The Dragon Dilemma
by RockBane
Summary: Zoids have been appearing in the Elemental Countries. Ninja's are beginning to scramble to collect as many Zoids as they can. Naruto is partners with Shadow and journeys to find his own Zoid to fullfil a dream. Complete!
1. Chapter 1

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

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Chapter 1

His arm feels numb as he stumbles through the forest. He just didn't want to be around people right now. He's only six years old but that doesn't stop people from beating him up. He doesn't know what his done to earn his beatings, but for now, he doesn't really care as he tries not to flinch as he's breathing. It's foggy and he couldn't see much that's in front of him, but it would help if his left eye wasn't swelled shut as he trips on something.

He groans and begins to cry silently as he picks himself up to sit up right. He holds his one arm, trying not to bump it too hard on his legs. He whimpers softly, trying to stop himself from crying. He scans the area, fearful of someone finding him and beating him up some more.

He gulps as he hears a branch break to his left. He swallows as he looks in that direction. He doesn't see anything and he only tenses up as the silence continues. After some time, he finally gathers up some courage and asks, "Is anyone here?" He hears an odd growl coming from his left side. He looks and stares at the blue eyes looking down at him. His mouth opens as he gasps as the fog moves, revealing a black head that's attached to the glowing blue eyes. "What are you?" He asks softly, not sure if whatever this thing is friendly.

"Shadow." His mind translates the odd roar. "Is that your name? Or is that what you are?" He asks. "Name. I'm an Organoid." His mind translates once more. "Cool. I'm Naruto." He tells Shadow and begins to note the rest of Shadow's body. "You look kind of like a dragon." He says out loud. Shadow makes an odd snort sound and he smiles sheepishly. "I guess you already know that, huh?" He says once more and then he asks, "So, where are you from?" He gets the feeling that Shadow's smirking, even though Shadow's snout didn't seem to pull upwards.

/----

It's been six years since he first meet Shadow and he he's changed quite a bit. For one thing, he has long since stopped caring what every villager thought about him, he no longer seeks out attention like he use to. He actually goes out of his way as so avoid the busiest streets and places, he didn't want people following him. He often meets up with Shadow in deserted places, even within the village.

He has to admit that he finds it funny that in a village full of ninjas that Shadow has remained undetected during half of his life. Not that he's complaining, he's learnt a lot from Shadow that might not be relevant now, but that doesn't mean that it's useless. Shadow was of the opinion that if he's here, then some Zoids are also here on this world as he had. He didn't see why not, for though Shadow is an Organoid he's still a Zoid.

He sits down at his regular seat in the back of the classroom. He's about fifteen minutes early, though Sasuke still beat him here. _'Not that Mr. Brood and Gloom has anything better to do.'_ He thinks as he grins softly. It also turned out the reason for his beating that day when he met Shadow had to do with all of Sasuke's clan dying. Either Shadow or him had been able to figure out how the villagers linked Sasuke's clan's murder to him, but it did explain the beating he had received.

He leans on the desk, his arms folded under him to form a pillow. He smiles softly as he watches as students begin to drift into the classroom. Shikamaru and his buddy Choji sit to his right. He nods in their direction and they nod as they sit down. The three of them weren't overly friendly, just on better terms between them then with anyone else in class. If push come to shove, he would admit that they might be friends, if he knows that the definition of a friend is.

He focuses in on the crowd of girls that seems to be trying to figure out which of them will sit with the ice king, Sasuke Uchiha. Soon it's left to a blond girl by the name of Ino and her rival Sakura the pink haired girl. He didn't know what's worst, the way they fawn over Mr. Stick-up-his-butt or the way they were always wasting energy fighting each other to be close to him. Soon the blond did something worthy of a fox, Ino slid right into the seat as soon as Sakura was distracted by Kiba insulting Sasuke's demeanour.

"I thought for sure that Sakura would win this time." Choji says between bites. He smiles slightly and answers, "There's no understanding the workings of the world, Choji. Especially when there's a girl involved." They didn't expect Shikamaru to add anything, knowing that the Nara is already asleep. Usually Choji and him keep each other company while the shadow user slept. Choji nods in agreement as people settle down as their teacher, Iruka, comes into the room.

Soon they're reviewing what they know for this afternoon's examine. He's not nervous as he would have been a few years ago, for Shikamaru had helped him learn the water clone Jutsu, for the regular clone was just too difficult for him to do it correctly. He finds it hard to do any Jutsus that require the least amount of charka, he just doesn't have that kind of control over his charka and might never will.

The morning seems to fly by, soon they're heading out of the classroom for lunch. Shikamaru and Choji head off in another direction as he heads off to find Shadow's hiding place. He heads a soft growl and follows it until he finds an alley. He sits down and grins as he glances at Shadow. He picks up his lunch that Shadow brought, he stopped taking lunch with him when kids at school use to either steal or ruin his lunch. Also, he couldn't find a shop that would allow him to buy fresh food without charging him an arm or a leg. Also, Shadow usually steals his lunch from some restaurant so he knows it'll be great.

They remained in comfortable silence during him eating his lunch and after. He day dreams a bit about what'll be like to pilot a Zoid. He's startled as Shadow moves deeper into the alley and he watches as a pair of his classmates walk pass, he sighs and says, "See you later, Shadow. I got a test to pass." Shadow roars out, "Good luck." He nods and soon disappears out of view of the alley.

/----

He studies the head band he received. He is both happy and proud at passing, but also can't help but feel cheated too for either of the teachers asked what kind of clone he mastered or gave him a positive comment. He sighs and pockets his head band. He looks up at the four heads carved on the face of the cliff. His eyes lingered on the four's head. He sighs and looks away. The only real reason why he's even trying to be a ninja had to do with exploring the lands beyond Fire Country for Zoids. As a kid, he use to dream about becoming Hokage, but as he learnt more about Shadow's home world, his dreams have shifted and he didn't want to make a living within this reality, but on Zi.

Instead of being the greatest Hokage that the world has ever know, he simply wants to be a great Zoid pilot and warrior. The idea of killing people had helped to change his direction in life, it also help that in defeating other zoid pilots he would earn money and rank. He knows that Shadow would most likely carry him until he learnt how to pilot the Zoid, but he's willing to learn as quickly as he can and as soon as he can. He smiles as he walks through a run down section of the village.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He's sitting in his usual seat. He hears someone walk in and out of the corner of his eye he notices that it's that kid, Naruto. He sighs silently as he kind of hoped that someone other then girls would sit to his right. He's getting tired of those girls, for they're not just annoying, but also so very weak. He also refused to move from his seat just because a bunch of girls bother him.

He shifts a bit and looks over to where the blond is sitting. He notices that instead of wearing the head band around his forehead, Naruto has it hanging around his neck. He notices the short green shirt that reveals a mesh under the shit as well. He notices that the blond boy has a gazed look in his eyes, which means that Naruto was thinking about something. If it had been a few years ago, he might have figured that Naruto was thinking about pranks and reman, but that was like when they were six year old. He didn't really remember just when Naruto started to withdraw from the spot light, for he just wasn't interested in those around him. It wasn't until this year did he begin to pay attention to his male classmates did he find that yes indeed the Naruto that he remembered growing up was gone and in the loud mouth's place was someone who seemed to hide in shadows. A deep part of him found that kind of sad, but he ignored that part as he considers if he should asks Naruto for a spar one of this days.

Soon people began to enter and he turns right back around to face the desk and black board. He didn't need anyone to see his interest in Naruto, especially his so-called fan club. He doubts that Naruto would agree to a friendly spar if he's being bugged by those girls.

He groans within his mind as the swarm of girls begins to gather around him. He tries his hardest to tone them out as well as to think of other things too. With what seems to be years, Iruka finally enters into the room and things settle down. He sighs mentally as Iruka begins to lecture them about their duties. He just wishes that Iruka begins on who's on who's team very soon.

He was ready to kill someone as Iruka announces that he'll give out the teams after lunch. Soon he's among the last ones out of the classroom. He blinks as he notices Naruto is still has that gazed look in his eye. He pauses and considers something that is until Naruto snaps out of it and gets up off the seat. Their eyes meet and he turns and heads out the door. He can hear Naruto follow behind him. He wonder's if just what's keeping him from asked Naruto to spar with him later. _'It's not like he's going to shout it from the roof tops. He's trying to remain unseen, so he wouldn't do anything to alter that.'_ He thinks as he heads off on his own, hoping to find a route to his usual lunch spot without anyone finding him.

)-(Shadow)-(

Its night time and he knows that something's happening. He takes one last look in the direction of Naruto's apartment before heading to where his scanners are picking up something. He're curious as to what it is, for it's coming up on his scanner. It takes him a while to make it there without using his wings to jet through the air. He didn't want to be found out just because he's grown impatient.

After about two hours, he watches as a bunch of ninjas move a Hellcat Zoid through the gate, along with what appears to be a Command Wolf. _'Neither is good enough. I guess we'll just have to wait until Naruto gets an assignment outside of the village to search for a suitable Zoid.'_ He thinks as he watches the humans finish getting the two Zoids pass the wall.

He doesn't like these humans, for they don't seem to like the child he has chosen to partner himself up with. He can see bits of his old partner in Naruto, for both Naruto and Raven were orphans and they both had a rough upbringing, but Naruto seemed to be more resilient towards what life throws at him. It also most likely helped that nobody around here were trying to warp him into a monster, though it seemed that they already see him as some kind of demon or monster which was just plain illogical from his stand point. He turns away and heads off towards his usual spot to rest.

To be continued …


	2. Chapter 2

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2

He yawns slightly as he waits for their teacher to appear. He looks towards his other two team mates and can't help but groan. He replays what happened yesterday afternoon within his mind.

?-?

They came back from lunch and they had just finished sitting down when Iruka comes into the classroom. "Alright, I'll begin to read out the teams. Team 1 is…" Iruka says, he just tones it out until he hears his own name. After about two minutes, Iruka finally says, "… Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha. The jonin for Team 7 is Kakashi Hatake. Team 8 is…"

He blinks in surprise and glances to where his other team mate is sitting. He can't believe he's stuck with Mr. Rookie of the Year and someone else. He wonders who his other team mate is, but soon figures it out as Sakura is chatting with Sasuke excitedly. He didn't know which is worst, that Sakura will be ignoring him for Sasuke or that Sasuke will be the two word wonder. He wonders just who's out to get him to pair him up with those two.

Soon Iruka finishes listing teams and within five minutes Jonin begin to appear in the classroom to pick up their teams. He watches as his two friends walk out of the classroom. About thirty minutes later, only Sasuke, Sakura, and himself are left within the classroom. He wonders why Iruka left without waiting to see them get picked up.

He grows bored and creates a pillow with his arms and then rests his head on it. He begins to take swallow breaths and within fifteen minutes, he's napping. Something suddenly wakes him up, he open his eyes and finds that both of his team mates were still within the room. He stretches and yawns as he glances at the only clock in the room. He blinks as he notices that he's been asleep for about three hours. This kind of shocks him and he decides to get up and take a look out of the classroom door.

"What are you doing?" He hears Sakura ask him, he just ignores the question as he opens the door and comes face to face with a man in a mask with his one eye covered. He blinks as the man opens the door wider and takes a look at the others. "My first impression of you three is… you suck." Was the man's first sentence, which was soon followed by, "Meet me on the roof in five minutes." He blinks as the man teleports away. He wonders just what he's getting himself into as he walks out of the classroom.

?-?

He wonders if maybe yesterday's wait should have prepared them for what appears to be their teacher's attendance record. He resolves that if they do meet Kakashi's standards that he'll wait two hours after the time given before making his way to the meeting point. He had also scouted out the area after he arrived here and had noticed the odd rock with people's names on it. He had studied it for about ten minutes before heading over and sitting down by his pack.

"What time is it?" He asks. Sakura checks the time on the watch hanging from her bag. "About fifteen minutes to eleven." The girl replies before yawning. Soon Sasuke's stomach growls, which is soon followed by Sakura's though for better or for worst, Shadow had pretty much ordered him to eat breakfast before leaving his apartment. There were times when he's often left wondering just how Shadow can get into his apartment without anyone noticing the metal dragon from entering or exiting the building.

He smiles slightly as he takes in the expressions that the other two are wearing as they eye him. "I can't believe you didn't follow orders. You weren't suppose to eat this morning!" Sakura growls out. He blinks and says, "On reflection, I bet you two wish you did." He feels smug at the wistful looks on their faces. True, he's beginning to get hungry, but not as hungry as Sasuke and Sakura though.

He picks up a kunai and begins to twirl it on a finger on his right hand. He scans the area in hope of spotting Kakashi. As fifteen minutes pass, a lone figure approaches. Without thinking about what could happen, he throws the Kunai at the man in the mask. The man catches it and asks, "I guess it slipped?" He snorts, but before he could reply, Sakura shouts out, "Your late, Kakashi!" "Sorry but I got lost on the road of life." The jonin answers. "Lair!" Sakura shouts.

He sighs at that, wondering if Sakura knew that Kakashi just distracted her from finding out where the jonin really was. He glances over at Sasuke only to find that Mr. Ice Cube was busy studying their new teacher. He watches as Sasuke's eyes show that he didn't think too much about Kakashi. He wasn't going to judge Kakashi on just appearance alone, for Kakashi is an expert ninja and of jonin rank which means that the man before them has greater experience then the three of them combined when it comes to being ninjas.

He turns back at the sound of bells. He notices the two silver bells that Kakashi's holding and frowns as he doesn't understand just what the bells are for. _'Genin are suppose to be in three person teams, so why is there only two bells? What's he up to?'_ He thinks. He knows that team work is arsenical for ninjas to carry out important missions. It was a fundamental part of what ninjas are. It was something that Shadow was also adamant about after the black Organoid observed a number of genin examinations with their supposed jonin instructor. So he not only had an idea about what Kakashi will be trying to test, but also forewarning about what will cause them to fail.

"Now, you see these two bells?" Kakashi asks, then puts them on his belt. "Once I set the clock, you three will have about an hour to get one of these bells from me. Who ever doesn't get a bell will go without any lunch." The jonin pauses as both Sasuke's and Sakura's stomachs growl. He sighs as Kakashi looks over at him. "I was hungry." He says and he can see amusement in Kakashi's visible eyes. "Well other then Mr. Blond, you both seems to have healthy appetites. I also want to add is the one that doesn't get a bell with also be send back to the Academy." Kakashi says. "I got a question, we just need a bell to pass, right?" He asks slowly. Kakashi just nods and he relaxes.

Soon Kakashi sets up a clock on one of the tree stumps and says, "Now." They jumped out of view and he keeps racing along until he's sure he's far enough away from the starting point before he stops and begins to think more deeply on the rough out line of a plan that he's beginning to warm up to. _'We just need a bell, huh? This will be tricky, but I believe I can pull this off, though the problem will be getting Sasuke and Sakura to listen to my idea.'_ He thinks as he picks up a stick and twirls it between two fingers as he grins.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He can't believe he's neck deep in the ground. He couldn't do a thing as Kakashi walked away with both bells. He pauses as someone enters the clearing. He turns his head to get a look and find both of his so called team mates standing there, looking down at him. "Well, I guess that shortens our search considerably." Naruto says dryly. "What happened Sasuke?" Sakura asks as she races to him. "Just get me out of here." He growls out. His fan girl nods and begins to help get him out of the ground as Naruto watches with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

"What are you two doing together?" He finally asks, considering Naruto didn't look like he was going to explain and Sakura was busy trying to make him feel better. "Did you touch a bell?" Naruto asks without answering his question. He snorts and says, "That's none of your business." Naruto smiles softly and says, "If you did, I do believe the plan might just work." He blinks and Sakura says, "What he means is, he thought up a way to trick Kakashi." "What's the plan?" He asks, kind of suspicious of what the details are. "Sakura's good at illusions, right? And I did ask before this test started if we need a bell to pass see. So the plan is to have Sakura use an illusion to create two bells and then she casts another illusion on the real ones to make it seem that they're not there or better yet, something else. And if you had touched the bells, we can claim that you switch them out." Naruto says. He nods and then says, "The problem is that Kakashi wouldn't believe it." Naruto smirks and says, "So we fight him again, only this time, I join in to help keep Kakashi distracted from what Sakura's doing. If it works, we'll pass the exam."

He frown and says, "What's the back up plan?" He notices how Naruto grins and says, "Sakura will have two 'bells' right? We could always have either you or Sakura make another one. Technically, we just need bells to pass. If we have said bells, then we pass. Plus, Kakashi didn't spherically mention that we need the two bells he had or forbid us from creating our own bells." He blinks and thinks on this for about two minutes, trying to decide if it was worth a shot. "Fine, we'll try it your way. You better not get in my way." He says and he turns away and begins to walk off to where Kakashi had, knowing that the other two would follow.

)-(Naruto)-(

He watches as the others walk away, leaving him alone. He's glad that they proved that they can work as a team, though he did wonder if Sasuke might have botched it when the Ice King almost cut off his arm. His other hand reaches up and touches the scratch, which had been a more serious about ten minutes ago.

He knew that either plan would work, for Kakashi had pointed out that he was focusing on team work then on following the guidelines and the rule that the jonin set up for this test. True they might have been able to as Kakashi put it, 'bull shit' their way with that plan but they wouldn't be have pass though. He snorts and Kakashi did say he was quite surprise about either plans though and had given them credit that they had the guts to try and follow through with them too.

He turns to glance at a spot where the shadows are the deepest. "You should bandage that." His mind translates the series of growls and barking roars directed at him. "It's going to be gone within the next few minutes, no point in wasting clean bandages over a minor scrap." He tells Shadow. There's a pause between them and after about four minutes Shadow softly roars/growls, "They brought in some Zoids the other night. A Hell Cat and a Command Wolf." He sighs and asks, "Are you sure you don't want to go searching for a suitable Zoid on your own, Shadow? It's going to be, like months before the team I'm on will be allowed to leave this village for C ranked missions. You might have better luck alone, without me to hinder you." "I wouldn't be able to concentrate on the search if I'm worrying about you." Shadow growls softly. He smiles and nods as he says, "I wouldn't be able to concentrate with you gone. What a pair, huh?" Shadow just nods and he pushes himself off the stump and turns in Shadow's direction.

Soon they leave the clearing to check up on the stash of technique scrolls. Between him and Shadow, they stash has about forty-six scrolls. They use to have about sixty, but twenty of them turned out to be summoning scrolls as well as bobby trapped, so that kind of sucked for about five scrolls that he hadn't opened were destroyed. They had grown careful about opening them, so far, he's read a grand total of forty scrolls. Once he finishes reading the scroll, they try to return them to their owner or place them at the back door of the library so that they could be added to their collection of scrolls. He hasn't got a chance yet to practice what the scrolls say, but he has a great deal of time to find time to practice them.

'_I wonder if I should try and find Shikamaru and Choji later? I wonder if they passed their exam. I hope so, I would hate to be the only one out of the three of us to make genin.'_ He thinks after walking for about eight minutes.

To be continued …


	3. Chapter 3

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3

They finish weeding the garden, carrying groceries, and they were currently on their way back to the main building to return the lost cat to its right full owner. Oddly enough, he kind of felt sorry for the cat for though it seems that the cat's own loves him dearly, it's seems that said owner doesn't know how to show the cat the right kind of attention. Shadow once commented on the fact he's surprise that the cat's back not broken after he told the dragon Organoid about the fifth time they went out searching for the cat. He can't help but agree, he doubts a normal human could survive those kind of hugs, let alone a small animal.

"Don't even think about it, Naruto! We need to deliver him to his owner!" Sakura shouts as she notices that his grip on the cat was loosing. He frowns and asks, "Can't we just say he ducked into a badger's set and was killed? I know animals don't seem to like me, but can't you sympathise with the cat's dilemma? It can't be healthy the way the lady hugs him." He tries his best to win Sakura to his side, but all hope flew out the window when Sasuke says, "That's not our problem, we here to return the cat to it's owner. That's it." He sighs and blinks in surprise as it seems that the cat resides itself to its fate. He sighs and wonders if that reaction was normal as they come into view of the building.

He blinks as something knocks him down, which in turn leads him to let go of the cat. He blinks as he notices a kid stumbling into Sasuke. He blinks as the kid shouts out in a panicky tone, "I didn't mean to! Honestly! I didn't know!" Sasuke grabs a hold of the kid's shoulder and asks in a cold tone, "I don't see anyone. Who are you talking to?" The kid blinks and looks around, seemingly searching for something. "It's gone? The dragon's gone?" The kid asks. He stiffens and asks, "Dragon?" "Yea, a red one. It was small and looked real odd, but it couldn't be anything other then a dragon." The kid says, he relaxes at the mention of the dragon's colour. _'It's not Shadow then.'_ He thinks before Sakura rounds on him. "You lost the cat!" He blinks and looks around, only finding a ribbon with some fur on it. He smiles softly, feeling a whole lot better. "We're not getting payed for losing that cat, idiot." Sakura adds for good measure. He just grins and says, "Some things are better then money."

"Besides, this sounds much more interesting then chasing after some stray cat. Let's head in to report this." Sasuke says. The kid blinks and asks, "Do I have to go too?" "Yes you do, you are the one who saw this red dragon." Sasuke says indifferently. He watches as his team mates walk a head. He bites his lower lip, he wants to head off and check up on Shadow, but in the end, he followed behind his team mates just hoping that Shadow's going to be alright.

)-(Shadow)-(

He had been roaming around the forests, trying to track the Organoid that is wondering around. He pauses as he notices a red blur flying over head. _'So, it's Ambient. I wonder, is he a new arrival? Or is he planning something?'_ He thinks as he takes off after the other Organoid. He is tempted to activate his wings so he can catch up to Ambient, but doesn't want to draw any attention to himself.

He comes towards a rocky out cropping and finds Ambient resting at the base of a large rock. He growls and steps into view, he transmits to the red Organoid, _'Long time, Ambient. What brings you here?'_ The red Oraganoid's head shots up. _'Shadow, what are you doing here?'_ Transmits the red dragon Organiod. _'You didn't answer my question.'_ The other flinches slightly. _'I'm looking for a Zoid. I noticed two healthy Zoids in this area.'_ The red transmits to him. _'And then what? You think these humans are just going to let you run off with one of them? Do you even know where you are? Or what these humans have to defend themselves? You don't even have a partner to help you out!'_ He transmits to the red. _'I thought you were finished with partners, especially after how Raven treated you. Besides, this isn't Zi and I haven't detected any really technology that could warrant your caution.'_ Ambient transmits.

He growls slightly at being reminded on how he had been treated during the time Raven was fighting against Van and Zeke. True, things had been different before Raven was taken by that _man_; he refuses to call him by his name or rank. He stuck by Raven mostly because of the kid he befriend before Raven began down the road of hatred. Not that he cared about how many Zoids they destroyed together or how much Raven treated him; it's just that, he kind of wanted the old Raven back.

'_Try your luck, if you're so determined then go, but don't expect me to come to your rescue. I'm not going to risk what I've built here just to keep them from learning our existence, Ambient.'_ He transmits to the red Organoid. He turns and leaves the other alone within the clearing. He heads off to wait for Naruto at their usual meeting place. He wonders just what to tell Naruto when they meet again. He just knows that Ambient was spotted, he just wonders by whom and if they're going to report the sighting.

)-(Naruto)-(

He walks slowly towards the usual meeting place; he frowns as he thinks about the reactions of hearing about that red Organoid, for there isn't any doubt in his mind that it was an Organoid. He had noticed the way the higher ranked ninja's eye lit up as their thoughts of this dragon being more then just a dragon. He wonders how many made the connection between the Zoids they house and the red dragon Oragnoid. He also wonders how long until they begin to search for the Oragnoid and what they'll do once they get it.

He blinks as he notices that Shadow's already in view. "Hey Shadow." He says and then says as he looks around, "Some kid spotted a red dragon. I think it might be an Oragnoid." He waits for Shadow to reply. "I noticed him too. It's an old aquatinted of mine, he came for one of the two Zoids that the ninjas have." His mind translates the series of growls and roars that is Shadow's reply. He relaxes and asks, "So you chased him away?" Shadow snorts and he just sighs. "Stubborn guy then?" He asks curiously. "Its more like him wanting to destroy as much and as many things as possible. He enjoys hurting people if I remember correctly." Shadow growls out. "You don't seem to mind destroying Zoids, if I recall." He says thoughtfully. "Ambient is a killer and likes it. I just don't care about what happens to the Zoids I help defeat, I also don't go out of my way to kill the pilot. There are always more Zoids out there, so what if a few of them are destroyed? They're working on resurrecting them without using an Oragnoid. So compared to humans, Zoids can come back to life." Shadow informs him through a series of bark roars, growls, and snarls.

He nods thoughtfully and asks, "So when will this guy try for one?" "Tonight." Shadow growls out. He nods and says, "I think I'll go and check to see if Shikamaru wants to play Go. I'm sure he's bored if he's only had Choji and his jonin instructor to play with. It might also help me relax too. Any big plans for tonight, Shadow?" Shadow growls a bit and looks up into the sky. "Later then." He says to his friend and partner.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He blinks as he hears some really odd sounds coming from the north-east. He looks scans the area before racing off towards where sounds of battle. He hasn't read or heard of anything that could make those kind of noises, but in the back of his mind, he wonders if his 'brother' has come back and that's the reason for all the noice.

He hears something wiz over head and ducks down on instinct. A large explosion occurs behind him. He's covered in dirt, branches, leaves, and rocks. He gets up and after shaking his head and running his hands through his hair; he then walks towards the disturbance. He keeps scanning the area for enemy nins or for traps, but runs into neither.

He hears something roar over head and looks up and pales as he watches as a blue wolf creature is leaping at this equally large cat creature. He doesn't know just what to think as he watches as Leaf nins are climbing around the cat's head, as if trying to force something open, but whatever it is, it's not giving. He watches as the cat dodges the attack from the blue wolf. The guns on the back take aim and two shots ring out. The cat backs up and some of the ninjas on the cat fall off.

He blinks in confusion, not sure what to make of this scene. He's tore between running away or entering the battle, but as he watch as the cat charges the wolf and as the wolf tries to grab a hold of the cat by trying to bite one of the cat's legs. The cat roars out and takes a swipe at the head of the wolf. It hits and the wolf lets go, but shoots off another series of shots. Two of the five hit and knock the cat off balance. Someone finally summons a boss animal; it appears to be a bear. The bear then moves and tackles the cat and it seems as if something gives and a red light shoots out of the cat and the cat shrinks as well.

He looks off to where the red light had disappeared to and takes off in that direction. Trying to ignore the voice that was telling him that whatever controlled that large cat, could possibility kill him. It takes him about thirty minutes of pacing himself, but he does arrive and finds the red dragon that the kid described. He blinks as he notices that the dragon seems to be made out of metal. He steps on a branch and he holds his breath until he realises that the dragon didn't stir.

He lets go of his breath and walks right over to the red dragon. He touches the body and finds that he's correct; this dragon is made out of metal. He figures that it used too much energy during the fight and is resting to recover that energy. He presses his lips together and begins to think of ways to use this to his advantage. He looks up and notices that it's getting dark and he heads off to where the battle had been fought only about an hour ago.

He crosses paths with a man in green and shouts out, "I found that thing that took control of that metal cat. It's out cold." The man does a pose and he just doesn't know what to say as the man begins to rant and rave about his 'youthful fire' and 'beating his eternal rival.' He really wonders if this was worth learning more about those gigantic metal creatures. He also flinched as the man does this thumbs up pose and shows his really white teeth with a background of a rising sun. _'Is this a jutsu?'_ Were his last thoughts as the man in green pulls him in for a bear hug.

To Readers:

This story isn't going to be focusing on romance, and if Naruto's going to end up with anyone it'll be when he's older, female, and **OC**. Sasuke's only interest in Naruto is that Sasuke just knows there more to Naruto then what the blond lets on as well as some other things that will appear later in the story. Thanks for the reveiws!

To be continued …


	4. Chapter 4

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

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Chapter 4

He yawns as he walks towards the meeting place. He had a late night last night, for Shikamaru and him had a grand total of forty games, it seems like Shikamaru really did want to play against someone other then his best friend and jonin instructor. Once they finished, Shikamaru decided to help him practice one of his jutsus he knows, but hasn't figured out how to make it work. Between Shikamaru's ideas and his stamina, it took them about an hour to get the basics before moving onto the actual practicing of the jutsu. It took him two hours to get the jutsu down packed. Then they had a few more rousing games of Go.

Luckily, he did stick to his decision to sleep in two hours after the meeting time. Sadly, neither Sasuke nor Sakura seem to mimic his actions, even though they know Kakashi's going to be three hours late. He blinks as he notices that Sasuke doesn't look too good. "Is he sick?" He asks once he stands next to Sakura. "I don't know, though he does look it, doesn't he?" Sakura says in a tired tone. "He's paler then usual and he's actually showing emotion." He observes. "I'm getting worried, it doesn't seem like he slept last night." Sakura says worriedly. He sighs silently, he might not know much about Sasuke, but he does seem to get that Sasuke doesn't like being cuddled or for someone pitying him.

"I'm going to look for Kakashi, maybe he knows what to do with Sasuke." Sakura says and before he can stop her, she was gone. He looks over at Sasuke and says, "You're out of it. You'd think you were scared of something." Sasuke blinks and glares at him, he kind of flinches at this, surprise that he got a reaction out of the human ice cube. "I'm not scared of that _man_! I just don't like being hugged, at all!" Sasuke snarls out as Sasuke stands up and looks threatening. He backs up and holds his hands up before him. "Ok, ok, you're not scared. I get it. Are you telling me someone hugged you?" He asks, Sasuke gave him a intense glare and he swallows, not sure what to do if Sasuke begins to pick a fight with him. He does know quite a few high level jutsus, but he doubts that Kakashi and Sakura would be pleased if he beats up Sasuke and that might just push Sasuke over the edge too.

"Now we'll never speak of this again, understood?" Sasuke growls out. He nods his head rapidly, hoping that it'll appease Sasuke. Sasuke looks satisfied about this and folds his arms on his crest and leans on the railing of the bridge, once more wearing a blank expression. He sighs softly in relief, he just hopes that whatever happened between Sasuke and that guy wasn't going to continue to affect Sasuke's moods. He doubts that Kakashi or him would survive unscared, though he has a feeling that their 'teacher' would sacrifice him without a moment's haste if Sasuke began to get violent.

'_Besides, other then his fan club, who'd want to hug him? He doesn't look much like a girl, even though he looks feminine. I wonder if it was more then just getting hugged by a guy?'_ Then his thoughts drift to the red dragon Organoid. This morning Shadow told him a bit about Ambient. It seems that Ambient was seriously injured by this Blade Liger. The only reason Shadow knew the red Organoid hadn't died was because the black Organoid stumbled upon the other during Ambient's raid on a power plant to help speed up his healing. According to Shadow, Ambient isn't as strong as he use to be, though he still has curtain abilities under his belt and was regaining his other abilities too. Though Ambient will never again match Shadow in strength, Ambient is cunning and will not haste to kill humans if they get in his way.

He doubts that Ambient succeeded in getting a Zoid or there would be stories and such flowing around about some huge metal animal fleeing through the wall that surrounds the village. He wonders if they catch Ambient and if so, what are they going to do with him? He doubts that anyone else would understand what Ambient's growls, snarls, and barking roars mean and its usually the partner of an Organoid that can translate those sounds into words like he did. He frowns slightly as he wonders just why he understood Shadow straight from the start. Not that he wishes he couldn't, it just seemed strange that he could. He snorts and shrugs, knowing that it's just one of those things that he's thankful for. He can't really see what his life would have been like if Shadow wasn't part of his life and he also doesn't want to know either.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He kind of feels a bit sorry for snapping at Naruto, but he was on edge since not only when that… _man_ hugged him, but also what he learnt later about those huge metal beasts. He also was told to keep quiet about it as well. He also wonders just what they plan to do with the machines too, for nobody mentioned that.

?-?

He doesn't know how long he was out, but he snapped out of it when someone mentioned letting Sakura play nurse for him. He objected loudly and was stunned to find Kakashi standing over him. "What are you doing here?" He asks his teacher. He can just feel the smirk that his teacher was wearing. "Well, for one, I rescued you from Gai as well searching for whatever that light that controlled the Hell Cat." His teacher says. He blinks and sits up. "That cat thing has a name?" He asks without thinking. "So it seems." Kakashi says. "Well, I know where to find the thing that was controlling that cat; also it's that red dragon that kid reported." He answers. Kakashi seems surprised by the news. "If you'll move back so I can stand, I'll lead you to it." He adds.

Kakashi nods and give him space. He gets up and already feels sore from that bear hug. He glances around and soon gets his bearings. "This way." He says simply. He leads Kakashi to the spot where the red metal dragon is resting. "Just what are those two machines?" He asks after about eight minutes of silence. "We don't really know much other then they're Zoids and that the cat one is called a Hell Cat and the wolf one is called a Command Wolf. They seem to be able to repair themselves on their own. In a way, them seem to almost alive." Kakashi answers after thinking about it for a few minutes. He nods thoughtfully and after about the next few minutes, they finally make it to where he left the red dragon. He stops and watches as Kakashi moves to get a closer look at it.

After a few minutes, Kakashi picked the upper portion of the body up and he moved to grab the lower end. He grunts at the weight and wonders briefly how something this heavy could move around with such ease. "So where are we taking it?" He asks they left the clearing. "To the underground base we're setting up. It'll be a while before it's complete, but he's small enough to be kept there." "You called it a he?" He asks. "Just seems natural, odder things have happened." Kakashi says and he guess he had to agree with that.

?-?

After he got home last night, he had quite a few nightmares revolving around that bear hug and so he didn't get a wink of restful sleep. He shivers slightly at the thought of the one where that _man_ had been stocking him in hopes of cuddling him in more bear hugs as well as trying to convince him to wear green spandex along with yammer on about that 'fires of youth' and such.

His trying to convince himself that it was all just a nightmare and that it couldn't happen in real life. He blinks and trying to think about something else, just then he notices that Kakashi is walking towards them, reading that perverted book. "Where's Sakura?" Kakashi asks once he stood before them. "Went off to get you." Naruto answers. "Oh? Why would she do that?" Their teacher asks. "Sasuke was acting weird." Replies the blond. He sends Naruto a glare, but the boy's not looking his way. "Well, I think I know what's wrong with Sasuke. Anyway, we received a C-Ranked mission." Kakashi tells them. He grins softly and glances over to notice Naruto seems to happy as well. "Where are we going?" Naruto asks in a tone that clearly shows his excitement. Kakashi looks at Naruto and replies, "We're going to River Country. The job is to protect a smith from thieves until he finishes work on a sword for a local noble. We leave tomorrow morning, around ten." He raises an eyebrow as Kakashi adds, "So you have today to pack up." He down right glares as Kakashi says, "I'm sure Sasuke will be more then willing to search for Sakura and inform her about the mission, see you tomorrow." Kakashi teleports out in a whirl of leaves.

"See you later, Sasuke! Good luck on finding Sakura!" Naruto shouts as the other boy takes off before he can say anything. He looks around and as much as he doesn't like being in a crowd, he doesn't feel comfortable being alone right now. He stares off in the direction that Naruto took off in and he wonders if maybe if he bride him to seek out Sakura for him. Sighing, he turns towards the road Sakura took off down and slowly beings to walk down the street too.

)-(Naruto)-(

He grins as he finds Shadow after two hours of searching, he snorts slightly as he notices that Shadow is fast asleep. He considered his opinions and then decided to join his friend in slumber, considering he doesn't really have much in the way of cloths, weapons, or food, though he does have quite a bit of money, considering few people want him in their stores or restaurants, it might ruin their good standing with the 'important' customers. He grins slightly as he realises that he might actually get to go shopping on this mission. That thought lightens up his mood even more as he flips onto his right side and curls up. His breath becomes shallower and he tries not to think about anything.

/----

He opens his eyes and stares blankly into a pair of glowing blue eyes. Slowly his brain begins to reconnect with his body and he blinks as he yawns. He rolls onto his back and then sits up. He turns his head and gets the feeling that Shadow's amused about something. "We finally got a mission outside of the village." He informs his friend. He grins and waits for Shadow to recover from the shock.

"Where's the mission located?" Shadow growls questioningly. "River Country. Sounds like an easy one too, we just need to keep thieves from stealing this sword that the smith's making for a local noble man. I think we're going rotate, which means that at least one of us is going to be guarding the shop during the day and the other two during the night. If I get a day shift, then that means we can go check out any Zoids you locate with your scanner." He says. Shadow nods and growls, "You should inform Shikamaru and Choji, since they are your friends. They might want to do something special for your sent off." He nods and gets up off the ground. "See you later then, Shadow." He says to the black dragon Organoid. He walks off in the direction of where Shikamaru and Choji's team usually can be found.

To be continued …


	5. Chapter 5

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 5

He glances around the front gate that leads out of the village; he ignores the subtle glares he's receiving from the guards. Oddly enough, Sakura and Sasuke arrived about ten minutes after he had, though to be fair they all were early, he's thirty minutes early while his other team mates are twenty minutes early. He looks at their packs and decides that they had done some last minute packing before leaving their respective houses.

The guards now only glare at him every three minutes then every few seconds, for they didn't want to be caught by his team mates, if he were to guess the reason. Most likely, they would in turn mention it to Kakashi and then it would most likely be reported to the Hokage. He might not know too much about what's going on, but he does know that Hokage does seem to have some kind of interest in his life, he just wasn't aware of it until he was much older. It confused him slightly, but he has come to the conclusion that if the Hokage wants to inform him about why the villages hate him, that the old man will, just not before.

He leans on the door, ignoring the increased glares from the guards as well as the questioning glances from Sakura and Sasuke. He already knows that Shadow was already outside of the village and most likely still traveling ahead, to make it to the town before they did. He was kind of sad that he would miss out on Shadow's company for the next few days until they arrive at the village. He looks towards the direction they're heading towards and can't help but wish he was traveling with Shadow instead of with his team.

As the minutes pass, he hears Sakura gasps and look into the village to find Kakashi walking towards them on time. He straightens up as Kakashi draws closer. He studies his teacher, then takes a few steps away from the village gate. He looks back as he hears Sakura make an odd noise. He glances over at Sasuke and notices that Sasuke seems to be busy eyeing their instructor. He decides to say something before either delay their departure, "I believe we have a long way to go and we're beginning to waste daylight." That snaps the other two out of it and Kakashi grins and says, "Already in mission mode, ay, Naruto?" He shrugs and answers, "I'm curious what life's like outside of the village." Sasuke snorts and adds, "What's different? There are people and they live in either cities, villages, or towns." He sighs, while Kakashi seems to grin at this. "For one thing, there are other hidden villages out there as well as different kinds of buildings and fashion designs that are popular to name a few." Kakashi says. He sighs and turns away as he says, "I'm in no mood for a lessen. I'm leaving now, your welcome to join me." He doesn't look back, despite Sakura accusing him of being rude or when Sasuke agrees with his course of action. Soon he can hear the other trail behind him, in time Sasuke walks pass him, he rolls his eyes at this course of action from the brooding ninja. They walk down the path for a bit, then they head west and south, towards the closest board between Fire Country and River Country. He wonders just what they can find in River Country as they walk in silence.

/----

They have been traveling for about five days now and he doesn't know what was worst, Kakashi's cooking or Sakura complaining about there not being any toilets around for her to use. Surprisingly enough Sasuke did prove himself to be the better chief out of the team, with Kakashi being the worst, Sakura being acceptable, and him doing fair job of cooking. He figures the reason why he wasn't a better cook had to do with nobody letting him buy what he wants to buy.

Though went it comes to gathering wild plants, roots, and mushrooms, he came in a close second with Kakashi, which pleases him quite a bit, though Kakashi did seem to frown at his skills. Kakashi had looked like he wanted to ask something, but then thought better of it. He sighed at that, though confused, once back at the camp he began to set up his tent while Sasuke begins to make supper with what Kakashi and him brought in. Sakura usually gathers the firewood as well as water.

He just kind of frowns as he thinks back on how Kakashi seems to leave with Sasuke in toe to scout around, they were even gone right now, leaving him alone with Sakura once more. He began to get the feeling like he's missing something, but shrugs it off. It's not like there's any Zoids around here or he'd have meet up with Shadow. He doubts that Sasuke knows much about Zoids, even if the other boy was informed of their existence. It's not like anyone other then the Organoids and the Zoids themselves know where they come from and how to pilot a Zoid properly. Though he has never been in a seat of one, he has Shadow explain the different layouts for some of the Zoids the Organoid merged with, so he does have a rough idea on what the controls were and what they can be used for.

His musings were cut short as Sakura asks, "Do you think that… Kakashi just wants to train Sasuke?" He blinks as he considers this. He then says cautiously, "I think Kakashi sees something in Sasuke that reminds Kakashi of his past. I think Kakashi has a hard time focusing in on the present and perhaps the future too." Sakura looks at him in shocked silence. "You must have put a lot of though into that." Sakura says softly. He shrugs and says, "Kakashi is older then us and there were wars going on long before our generation was born. It's not that hard to see Kakashi watching friends and loved ones get killed during those times of war and suffering." From the startled look on Sakura's face, it looks like that hadn't even crossed her mind, which makes him wonder just how, sheltered a life she's been leading.

'_Surely her parents would mourn in front of their daughter? Even take her to see their tombstones? Or is it that Sakura just doesn't think too much on what she's learnt about history? Why do I get the feeling that I might just be the more sensitive one out of the team?'_ He thinks as Sakura goes back to attending the campfire. He finds that kind of odd, considering he never had a family to care about or that cared about him. He doesn't really remember too much about his early years, they just held a lot of sadness and despair, he prefers that memories that came after his meeting of Shadow. _'For someone who never was given a kind word or gesture from anyone that wasn't from the old man, I seem to have a larger heart then anyone I've meet. Sure, I guess some of those people might be among the kindness people in the village, but they never show any of it to me, so does that make them good people? If you pick and choice who to be nice too, does that qualify you to be considered a kind man? If it does, then does that say about me? Or am I just fool?'_ He thinks as he looks up into the cloudy night sky. True he doesn't want to get close to anyone, but the reason was kind of simple, he doesn't want to leave a whole lot of people to miss him while he's gone from the village, from this world. He knows he'll not get any answers from the sky, let alone from the people around him.

)-(Sasuke)-(

They arrive back at the camp to find Naruto poking the fire with a stick. Without looking at either of them, the blond says, "You're later then usual." He sighs and wonders if Naruto has a second set of eyes in the back of his head. "Sorry, we thought we spotted something important." Kakashi says, it's not a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. Naruto just nods and says, "Sakura was getting worried. You two might want to stop for a while or you can take her with you to scout." He glares at Naruto's back, not liking what the blond is suggesting. "She can live with it." He growls out. Naruto snorts and replies, "She's beginning to feel like baggage, Sasuke. That's not good for team moral." He's about to say something, but Kakashi cuts him off. "You don't seem to be worried." Kakashi states.

Naruto finally turns his head to look at them and says simply, "I prefer to train with Shikamaru and Choji. Shikamaru helps break down jutsu I know and Choji is a fine sparring partner." His eyes narrow and he says, "You seem to forget I'm here, Dobe." Naruto looks his way once more and snorts before saying, "You just like beating the snot out of me, that's not what sparring is about." He bristles at that but once more Kakashi cuts him off by saying, "Just what kind of jutsu do you know? I haven't seen you use them." "That's because so I have an advantage if I ever face him for real." Naruto says as he looks at their instructor. "You don't seem to understand the value of team work." Kakashi says flatly. Naruto snorts and says, "I'm more worried about Sakura then I'll very be of him. Unlike her, he'll always have someone willing to teach him anything he wants to learn." He blinks, at a lost to how to react to that.

Oddly enough Kakashi slowly nods in agreement with that. "What about you?" Kakashi asks. Naruto snorts and says, "Like anyone in the village ever wants to teach me to kill anyone." That threw him for a loop as it seems that Kakashi seems a bit sad as he says, "I see. It's not like your going out of your way to be social." He is beginning to feel like he's being ignored, which was kind of a new experience for him. "So people can hurt me more then what I've experienced? I've had enough experience with fake friends and fake concerned adults to last me the rest of my life. They put up the barrier, not me. I'm tired of the fact that I'm expected to prove myself to a hate filled crowd, they'll never change their opinion of me so why bother?" Naruto asks. "I seem to remember you once proclaimed that you wanted to be Hokage." Kakashi points out. Naruto shrugs and says, "Dreams change, Kakashi. If things work out like I hope they do, I'll be leaving the village and starting a new life somewhere else. I also don't have any real plans of remaining a ninja either, not once I have the means to leave this place behind."

He's stunned at that. He blinks and notices that Kakashi also seems stunned. Naruto gets up off the ground and heads towards his tent. "Night." Naruto says before slipping into the tent. He just stares at the tent that belongs to the other boy. He doesn't know just what just was exchanged, but he knows that it was something that Kakashi didn't expect to happen. Then as what Naruto said began to move around in his mind, he does begin to remember some kind of warnings about staying away from a blond haired boy with whisker like scars on his cheeks. He hadn't thought too much about it, but now that he thought about it, Naruto is blond and does have three lines on each check that could be considered whisker like. He looks over to Kakashi, only to find that the jonin has disappeared, thus leaving him alone and confused.

To be continued …


	6. Chapter 6

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 6

Despite the looks he's receiving from Sasuke and, in time, from Sakura, things seem to settle down. He kind of shocked himself in telling Kakashi some of his plans for his future. Quite a bit of what he said held a great deal of truth in it and from the way Kakashi acted towards him since then, he guesses he hit a deep nerve with the older ninja. He felt guilty for altering something within Kakashi, but it just seemed like he needed to tell someone what he has thoughts are about the village and what he wants out of life.

He had quit trying to prove himself worthy of people's friendship when it was clear that their parents set an example of distain and hostile. Oddly enough, in that's how he ended up becoming friends with Shikamaru and Choji. He stopped seeking out attention and actively trying to make friends, since Shikamaru and Choji never objected to his presence and slowly something began to grow as it appears that the other two were seemed to accept him in their own ways, like Shikamaru asking if he knew how to play Go or Choji asking for him to spar with. He had been confused at first, considering he didn't expect that to find acceptant without even trying. Luckily, Shadow was more then willing to give him advice about how to be a good friend. He kind of feared that Shadow would be angry about him making other friends, but it seems that Shadow wasn't jealous and he's thankful for that. All this happened during the first year he met Shadow.

'_I understand now why Shadow began to advice that I start finding more deserted streets to walk home. They can't glare at you if you're not around to be glared at. It also stopped the drunks from following me and beating me up in alleyways. I swear I don't know why they need to drunk to beat me up. I was just a little kid, it's wasn't like I could fight back.'_ He thinks as he walks behind the others. He studies the three before him and knew that none of them really cared about him unless it affects the mission or the team work. His good at working with them, for either of his team mates ever put any effort into working with him.

Sakura is totally focused on Sasuke that she leaves herself wide open for attacks and Sasuke just loves to race into battle head first, not even really thinking about his back. He's had a long time studying the pair of them, so he can adapt to any position that his needed to fill. It was the strength, but also the weakness of their team, for it the enemy gets him out of the picture, either of the other two would last in a serious fight with the way they act and react. Sakura didn't have the staying power to keep up with Sasuke and Sasuke would be overconfident.

He glances at the adult of the team, wondering if Kakashi figured out what his contribution to the team work is. But then, considering the remark that he received from the jonin that night, it seems that it's true that Kakashi might not really see it. He really wishes that he had Shadow to talk to, he knows that Shadow would listen and it would have helped keep him from having that out burst he had that night. He also can't blame Kakashi for being blinded by the past to see the reality of the present or to think in terms of long time future of the team. Nor can he blame either of his team mates for thinking and being more concerned with their own lives then to see what's happening with him.

His thoughts once more turned towards Shikamaru and Choji, he kind of wishes for the like the hundredth time to be paired up with them then with Sasuke and Sakura. At least Shikamaru and Choji have some kind of understanding about what's going through his head, most of the time. _'Though with Shikamaru, you never can tell.'_ He thinks thoughtfully as he walks behind the group.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He's currently trying to piece together the being known as Naruto from what he knows and the rumours that he might have heard. It doesn't help that Kakashi refuses to speak about what happened that night either. He also kind of wonders just why Kakashi doesn't want to talk about it, for shouldn't their teacher be trying to talk Naruto out of his plans to quit being a ninja as well as moving out of the village? Then again, why does this matter to him?

He sighs mentally and thinks about what his plans for the future are. _'I want to kill Itachi, right? I should be grateful that Naruto isn't going to be trying to horn in on my time with Kakashi, it means I'll get stronger faster. Why should I care about that Dobe? He's not even that strong and he is dead last.'_ He feels a bit better, but something just wouldn't let up about Naruto. In the end, he scrawls at those thoughts and searched for that empty spot deep within himself and centered himself with it. He straights up slightly and he becomes more alert to his surroundings. Without thoughts to distract him, he walks unconcerned through the more open portion of the road.

)-(Naruto)-(

They make it to the town about ten days of traveling. He glances around at the town that they're going to be staying in until the sword is finished. He does wonder why the smith chose Hidden Leaf instead of Hidden Sand to protect him. He does grin as he realises that he's going to finally hook up with Shadow once more. His mood brightens at the thought of the black Organoid and just knows that Shadow missed him as well.

Sakura's mood also perks at the sights and sounds of the town. He smiles as he watches as Sakura moves between windows as they head towards their destination. He can tell that Kakashi was also enjoying the reactions that Sakura was displaying, though Sasuke seems to be disapproving of their team mate's behaviour. It doesn't take long before they arrive at the shop that their client owns.

Kakashi enters in first, followed by Sakura and Sasuke. He pauses and looks at the sign before entering into the building. He blinks at all the weapons that are begin displayed and notices that Sasuke and Sakura were looking around the shop, leaving Kakashi to speak with the man behind the front desk.

He studies the man, he notices the bandages around the man's left fist as well as a scar running down the from the man's right temple to his jaw. The man is tall and his hair is beginning to grey. He guesses that the man has rough hands from his job as well as fine muscles to show for it.

He considers trying to over hear their conversation, but then decides to wait for Kakashi to inform them more about what's going on. He walks over to look at some decorative weapons that were more pieces of art then for actual use. His eyes lingered on an axe that seems to have a dragon circling around the hilt as well as the gem for eyes. He smiles as his thoughts drift towards Shadow, whose suppose to be a dragon.

He looks away as he looks to see what Kakashi is doing. He takes one last look at the axe, then walks over towards his instructor. "We'll be staying?" He asks. Kakashi seems startled slightly and looks over at him as the jonin answers, "There's an inn a bit north of here, on the out skirts of the town." He nods and shifts his weight before saying, "I'm sorry I snapped at you that night, I was edgy and I shouldn't have taken it out on you." That really startled Kakashi, for Kakashi just seems to stare at him in a dumbfounded way. The jonin recovers after a few seconds and asks, "You really want to leave?" He nods and looks at one of the spears behind the counter. "I just don't see any real future in the village. I just know that in time, someone might get the bright idea of sending me off on a suicide mission, one that I can't handle and I doubt that if I arrive at the gates injured but the mission completed, that they'll take me to the hospital. It's more likely that they'll slight my throat and leave mine corpse to the animals." He says.

Kakashi doesn't reply to that, which means that the jonin can see that there was quite a bit of truth in that vision he painted out for the old ninja. "What about Shikamaru and Choji?" Kakashi ask after a minute of silences. "I think they'll understand, especially Shikamaru. Shikamaru might not look like it, but he's a really brilliant, I'd say he's a genius in all scents of the word. He's just too lazy to show it is all." He tells Kakashi. Just as Kakashi is about to make a comment, Sakura and Sasuke join them, putting an end to their conversation. "And?" Sasuke asks in a cool tone. "We're just waiting on direction to the place we'll be staying at." Their instructor says. He notices the smith coming through the door before anyone else and soon Kakashi takes the piece of paper, then pauses. "Naruto will begin guarding now." Kakashi says and he nods and hands over his back pack. Soon the other leave and he turns to their client. "You can sit begin the counter, just call me if anyone is going to buy something." The man says and he just nods and soon he's sitting down, watching as customers browse through the store. So began a long day in the life of Naruto Uzumaki.

)-(Shadow)-(

He's had to keep himself from checking out the eight Zoids that were located around this area. Most of them were a few days journey from the town, while others were close. From what his scanners say, about two are huge; he figures that those two might be carriers or transporters. There were about three that were easy to get to without going too far from the town.

It's night time and by his calculation, Naruto's team should have arrived today. So he's been drifting around the perimeter of the village, in hopes of finding Naruto. He turns as he notices a flash of blond moving down a path towards this inn that's on the out skirts of the town. He snorts and roars out a greeting. "Shadow?" He hears Naruto say softly. He growls and he is very pleased to watch as Naruto found him. "So, what have you been up to?" Naruto asks and he growls out, "Nothing much, just waiting for you." Naruto grins at this and says as he motions for Shadow to follow, "Well, just let me clean up and eat something before we got check out the Zoids you've located. Also, it seems that Kakashi is also going to searching for Zoids too. I also think Sasuke knows about Zoids as well." He nods as he trails behind Naruto. He doubts that Kakashi will find any Zoids for a while yet, even if the man does, they'd have already checked them out and declared them unsuitable.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He frowns as he checks the time. It's been about five hours and still no sign of Sakura to relieve him for his break. He eyes the building, then heads off to see where his female team mate is. He just knows he should have asked to be partnered up with Naruto, for at least the other boy takes his job seriously, even though he has no plans on continuing to be a ninja for the rest of his life. _'If I find her sleeping…'_ He thinks darkly as he jumps from roof top to roof top.

To be continued …


	7. Chapter 7

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 7

He sighs as he looks over at Shadow. "Not good enough?" He asks. Shadow growls his answer. He nods and they leave the flying Zoid alone. It was the third night of surveying the Zoids that were closest to the town; the flier was the last Zoid to be this close to the town. The first one they took a look at was a Gun Sniper, the second night was Sinker, and just now, the flier, which was called a Raynos.

It's not that he's disappointed that he hasn't found a suitable Zoid for him to pilot, for there were five other Zoids to check out, the problem is just how to check them out without being gone for so long. He frowns as he considers his opinions on how to be gone for so long without anyone noticing him being gone.

Shadow disappears as they draw near to the inn after walking for a while. He yawns as he opens the door. He soon walks pass Sakura's room and then Kakashi's room. He cracks the door open a bit and notices that Kakashi isn't back. He sighs and thanks the powers that be that Kakashi hasn't noticed his disappearance during these few nights. _'But then, Kakashi's been busy with his own search too. I wonder if that might be the reason why Sasuke has night guard, to keep him from searching on his own. Sounds reasonable, especially considering Sasuke's ambition is to kill someone. I shudder at what Sasuke would use a Zoid for.'_ He thinks as he closes the door and walks into the room he shares with Sasuke. He soon takes off most of his cloths and puts on his PJs. He turns off the lights and soon lies on the only bed in the room. He moves under the covers and soon he's falling asleep, he's tired and he does need his sleep for guard duty for tomorrow.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He snorts at the lame attempt to break into the shop by three thieves. He pulls back from the edge of the roof and then climbs down the building's side. He doubts that Sakura will be much help and considering that they're nothing more then citizens, he'll beat up them in less then two minutes. He lands with the grace of a cat as well as with the quietness of one too.

He waits until all three backs are turned, then charges them, knocking out the one trying to pick the lock. The other two look startled and then both try to flee, but he's quicker then they are and soon he's tying them up with wire. Sakura arrived to check up on him just as he finishes with the wire. "You're the best, Sasuke!" Sakura praises once she got over her shock of seeing the three grown men he knocked out and tied up. He says, "It wasn't hard, they weren't ninjas." "I'll go find Kakashi and tell him about this." Sakura says and soon the pink haired girl races away, leaving him to guard the three. He sighs and knows that Sakura will most likely only find Naruto at the inn.

He frowns as he thinks about the other reason why they're here. _'I don't see why there are two of us guarding the shop at night or even during the day.'_ He thinks as he waits for Sakura to come back once she finally figures out that she couldn't locate Kakashi.

/----

Kakashi had decided that since their client will be gone for a few days, that they be taking turns guarding the sword that was entrusted to them, leaving the other two to trains and explore. He glances over at the yawning blond and turns before Naruto notices that he was looking at the other. With their client heading off to go pick up some gems for the sword from a jewel smith in another town, this will give him time to explore around for Zoids on his own, without Kakashi looking over his shoulder.

Currently, Sakura was guarding the sword for today, leaving Naruto and him time to themselves; Kakashi was resting in his room once he informed them about what's happening. Soon they finish eating and he watches as Naruto walks out the door. He frowns slightly and then decides to at least get a spar in before leaving on his own search for a Zoid.

He blinks in the sun light and looks around for signs of Naruto, but doesn't find any. He was kind of startled about this, considering he considers himself to be a fine tracker. Soon he begins to swipe through the area, after about thirty minutes, he finds Naruto's cloths and moves forward to find the blond in a small stream, totally naked. Naruto's head snaps towards him and he scowls at the blond. "I was expecting to spar with you, idiot." He says coldly. The other just snorts and looks at him in the eye as he says, "I don't feel like it, so either accept that or go wake Kakashi." With that, Naruto turns his back on him.

He glares at Naruto's back and leans on a tree. "We're sparring, whether you like it or not." He snaps at the other boy. "I said I wasn't interested." Naruto says simply. "Like I'm giving you a choice in the matter." He growls at the blond. Naruto sends him a look of loathing as he says, "I'm not going to be bullied, Sasuke." "Quite a few people would want to spar with me, you know." He states to Naruto. Naruto snorts and says, "Then 'bless' them with your 'divine' presence, O great and powerful Ice King." He growls at the mocking tone and quickly does the seals for Great FireBall jutsu. He then takes a great breath and holds his fingers at his mouth, he then releases the jutsu.

He blinks as he feels something cold press itself at his throat. He looks out the corner of his eye and finds Naruto standing there. "Water clone jutsu. I heard you about eight minutes before you appeared. You're quite noise, stomping around like that." Naruto says simply. He glares and Naruto moves his head slightly, before taking the kunai away from his throat. "If you know it, then why haven't you used it before?" He shouts at Naruto as the other boy begins to get dressed. "Unlike you, I don't go parading around, showing off my advance jutsus, and trust me, I do know quite a few of them, thanks to Shikamaru helping me to break down the instructions to help me understand how to do them. I might not want to pursuit the life of a ninja, but that doesn't stop me from learning to defend myself." Naruto replies as he ties his headband and gives him a pointed look.

He snorts and kicks a pebble as he considers that. "You're just jealous that I get all the attention." He finally remarks. Naruto studies him with an unreadable expression, then says, "Once I might have, but funny thing is, I pity you for all of that attention. All an enemy spy needs to do is talk to one of your fan girls to learn the list of jutsus you know. Surprise will always be a ninja's greatest tool and, sadly, you kind of lost that during the academy days." He blinks in surprise as he begins to get an idea of what Naruto's talking about. He feels queasy about that, for he can see picture his fan club doing just that. He just stares off into space as what this could mean for his future. He didn't like what he pictured, not one bit.

)-(Naruto)-(

He sighs, wondering if he broke Sasuke. _'But then, it's not every day someone points out that everything they've accomplished has been recorded and can be used against them if someone thinks to ask certain people. It doesn't help that everyone knows what to expect, considering which clan he belongs to.'_ He thinks privately to himself. He finishes putting on his sandals and considers what to do about Sasuke. Sighing, he decides to stick around just to keep watch on the dark haired boy.

After about ten minutes, Sasuke snaps out of it and walks off towards the inn. He just watches as Sasuke vanishes into the forest. "Odd reaction, you'd think he thought about it in that way." Shadow growls out softly. He just nods and replies, "I don't think too many ninjas think about it that way. I can maybe understand jonin not caring, maybe even chunin, but you'd think genin would try their hardest to wait to show off their jutsus until the chunin examine."

"We're far enough away for me to fly us to one of the sites." Shadow roars out. He blinks in surprise and then grins. "I'm going to ride on your back? Or within of you?" He asks. Shadow looks him up and down before growling, "Inside, it'll be easier that way." He sighs and nods; he then turns his back to Shadow. Soon he feels things wrap around him and he blacks out.

)-(Shadow)-(

It felt odd to have someone within him, especially when he's not escaping from a damaged Zoid. Not that he's complaining about Naruto's weight, just that it was just kind of freaky to be traveling with his partner within him. But they were approaching their destination quickly and only after about two hours of flight.

As he passes fields of green under him, he can help but compare this world to his home. This place is lust with a great deal of forests, fields, and such. Not like the wastelands that tend to cover planet Zi. It was kind of hard not to notice, especially after a good six years, how much life this world holds.

Then his scanner beeps, alerting him that they were within five hundred meters of the Zoid that's located within this area. He begins his descent as he begins change speeds for his jets. He soon begins to evade the larger branches and trunks as he descends pass the treetops. He soon touches down and then releases Naruto from his hatch. The blond preteen lies on the ground. He's not too worried, for Naruto's fine, he's just resting.

Within two minutes, Naruto is stirring and within the next three, Naruto's fully wake and is stretching out his legs and arms. "Is that normal, that blacking out I mean?" Naruto asks him. "Yes." He growls out. Naruto just smiles and begins to look around.

"So which direction do we head in to find this Zoid?" His partner asks. He turns north east and Naruto follows his gaze. "You might as well lead the way. You know where we're headed." Naruto suggests as he motions for him to take the lead. He nods and soon he's in the lead with Naruto trailing behind.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He growls as he continues to practice throwing kunai. He can't believe he had been so stupid, sure he's proud of what he knows but what's the point of having everyone know what jutsus he knows and mastered? It also stung that the dead last of their class could see the disadvantage of being proud enough to show off all of his techniques. So basically, all he knows about Naruto is that he has average Taijutsu and unknown amount of jutsus.

He blinks as his hand grasps nothing from his pouch and looks down to find none left to throw. He snarls as he begins to walk around to gather up his kunai. He decides that he'll need to ask Kakashi for other elemental jutsus later. Everyone knows that his clan specializes in fire jutsus, so he might as well surprise people by learning and mastering other elemental jutsus. _'Or at least until I activate my bloodline.'_ He smiles at the very thought as he searches the undergrowth for his kunai.

To be continued …


	8. Chapter 8

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 8

He just stares at the white armoured Zoid that looks like some kind of tiger. "What kind of Zoid is this?" He asks Shadow. "I think it's a Liger type." His mind translates his partner's growl. "You think it'll do? I mean, considering you had pretty bad encounters with Liger types before." He says. "It's the pilot that uses the Zoid to do battle so it isn't the Zoid itself that I hate." Shadow growls. "Besides, I think this one will serve well enough." Shadow adds and he nods.

Once he is by one of the fore limbs, he begins to climb up the leg and then move towards the cockpit of the Zoid. This takes him some time though. Soon he opens the cockpit and climbs in. He looks at all of the buttons and grins. He finds the right button and once the Zoid comes to life, the cockpit closes and the Zoid roars. _'Liger Zero.'_ The thought echoes in his mind. "Liger Zero? Neat." He says softly. He then concentrates on what he knows on how to get the Zoid to move.

He then grips these two handles and slowly moving them, the Zoid begins to move as well. He screws his face as he begins to test out how to turn and to back peddle. He smiles brightly as he turns the Zoid around and begins to walk through the trees, towards some plains located in that direction. He wants to see just how fast this Zoid is and an image appears showing Shadow pacing him. He nods and then focuses in on where he's going as well as getting familiar with where everything is within the cockpit.

Once he reaches the outskirts of the plains, he brings up the image of Shadow and says, "I'm going to test the speed. Anything advice you want to depart before I take off?" "Don't ram into anything too big." Shadow roars out. He nods and soon he get the Liger Zero into a trot and then within two minutes, he begins to pick up speed as he leaves Shadow behind to go for a joy ride with his Zoid.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He growls as he glares at his teacher. "And we can't go after this guy, why?" He asks once more. It's been about two days since his chat with Naruto and they have just received news that a large white cat has been seen some days from here. "For one thing, it's raining, though I must admit, I'm surprise we had such nice weather until now. Second, we also don't have a Zoid to pilot if we run into him. Also, lastly, who ever was piloting that Zoid would be long gone by now, so there isn't any point of heading in that direction." Kakashi says calmly as he reads his dirty novel.

He growls and looks out the window. It's Naruto's turn in guarding the sword, not that there's any real point right now. They're not leaving the inn with this storm occurring, he for one didn't want to get a cold or fever from training out in the storm. It also seems that for the next few days, it'll be raining as well. _'I guess this is why they call this River Country.'_ He thinks as he watches one of the many puddles that are being created from the storm.

Sakura is busy reading in her room and Naruto was in their room with the sword, thus leaving him alone with Kakashi. He wonders if he'd have a better chance at a meaningful conversation with Naruto then with Kakashi. He sighs at that particular thought. _'So maybe I'm approaching him the wrong way, so just what's the right way? Considering how most people act around me, it's frustrating and comforting at the way Naruto treats me.'_ He frowns slightly as he tries to think of ways to approach the other boy. It was then did he realise that he really wasn't use to being the one to approach anyone, for most people usually approach him. He closes his eyes and tries to think of a way to get Naruto to approach him, but, sadly, he doesn't see that happening.

He frowns and Kakashi asks, "Something on your mind?" He sighs and says, "Naruto." "Ah. You need advice, I take it." Kakashi says. He shifts his weight and presses his lips together. "It's not like its important or anything." He says after three minutes of silences between them. "Sasuke, you remind me of a cat." Kakashi says in amusement. He stiffens and growls out, "How so?" "You ignore everyone that gives you attention to go after someone who isn't. You also are secretive and you have this aura around you that says you're superior to everyone." Kakashi tells him in an amused tone. He glares at his teacher's book, almost wishing that he could set it on fire with a single glare.

He looks away and tries to find grounds to counter Kakashi's accusation, but can't really think of anything. Then he grins as a thought crosses his mind. "I'm a cat, am I?" He says in amused tone, he then gets up and walks away. At the bottom of the stairs, he looks around to make sure he's alone, before he does the hand seals for Henge. As the smoke clears, a black cat is standing where he had once stood as a human. He glances around once last time and then walks up the stairs in the form of a cat. Though it seems impossible, some how, as a cat, he's smirking as he climbs the stairs in the form of a cat. _'I wonder just what I can't blackmail you with, Dobe.'_ He thinks as he makes it the second level and begins to stalk towards the room that he shares with Naruto.

)-(Naruto)-(

He hears the door open slightly and lowers the scroll he's read to see a black cat stalking into the room. He raises an eyebrow at the cat, then shakes his head slightly and begins to read the scroll once more. He brought some of the scrolls that Shadow and he have been 'borrowing' from some people of Hidden Leaf.

This one is shows how to create a house, it's called Four Pillar Home Technique. Shikamaru helped him learn one similar to this one, only it creates a prison, that one is called Four Pillar Prison Technique. He didn't see any real use for the jutsu, but if he can alter it, he could create a place to hide Liger Zero from view, like a hanger made out of wood. He just needs to figure out how to have the inside hollow so that his Zoid could fit inside. He just doesn't know how to do that; he'll have to get help from Shikamaru to make the alteration he wants.

He looks at his shoulder and notices that the black cat is perched on it. He also sighs as the cat seems too busy studying the scroll to notice that he's staring at it. He turns back and skims through it slowly this time, comparing the prison jutsu to this one. He nods thoughtfully as he figures out the differences between the two. He grins as he can't wait to try this out; he just needs to think carefully as to where he's going to set up this house. He rolls the scroll up, he notices that the cat isn't on his shoulder anymore, but eyeing his pack. He snorts and opens the smaller pocket of the pack and after doing a simple jutsu, the scroll he had been reading shrinks down the size of a battery. He then puts the mini scroll into the pocket and zips it closed.

He gets up and stretches, for he's been sitting down for about two hours already. His stomach growls and he glances over at the sword. He creates a water clone and watches as the clone goes down stairs to get him something to eat. He turns and notices that the cat has curled up and seems to be resting. He shakes his head and hopes that Sasuke isn't allergic to cats as he waits for his clone to bring him something to eat.

)-(Sasuke)-(

Though he's curled up on the bed, his mind was racing at what he read and what he's seen Naruto do. He didn't know that jutsu could be used to create houses before he read that scroll, but he did admit that it was a really odd jutsu for a ninja to know, let alone want to know. He also pondered that jutsu that Naruto used to make the scroll small. He also didn't know just what to think about that one, for it seems to be a useful jutsu and wonders just where Naruto learnt it. And if the blond didn't learn it, then get the blond to teach him how to do it, for it would help him pack up scrolls he want to read during a mission.

'_It would have been so much easier if I had the Sharingan, then I wouldn't have to ask.'_ He thinks as the clone comes back with a plate of food. The clone doesn't disappear as Naruto takes the plate from the water clone. "You can do whatever." Naruto tells his clone. The clone grins and moves towards the window, soon the clone is gone and Naruto puts down the plate to close the window. He rises his head and looks first at the window and then at the blond. The blond notices and looks thoughtful. "Just because he's a water clone doesn't mean he deserves to dissipate once he finishes the task I give him. I found that clones do seem to have some kind of consciences, not much but it's there. I wonder if there's a jutsu that creates solid clones that are capable of using charka. I wouldn't mind learning that jutsu." Naruto says, once the blond says that he then begins to eat.

He moves into a different position as he thinks about that curve ball. He already has been thrown for a loop first with the scroll, then watching Naruto shrink the scroll, and now with how Naruto treated his water clone. He can't believe he had been ambushed by someone that can't seem to harden their heart towards others. Though he did have to admit that he might be stronger when it comes to hand to hand fighting with Naruto, he isn't so sure he'd win if they're allowed to use any jutsu they know, for Naruto seems to know more Ninjutsu then he does. Though he does wonder just where Naruto found that scroll with the house jutsu.

"Naruto, have you seen Sasuke? Kakashi says that he came up here." Sakura asks from the door way. "Other then this cat, nobody's come into the room." Naruto says simply to Sakura. Sakura blinks and then looks down at him. He feels dread as Sakura walks up to the bed and bends down to look at him. "Cute cat! Mind if I take him?" Sakura asks. He gets up and tries to bolt, but Sakura catches him before he leaps off the bed. "I don't see why not. It's not like I'm his owner." Naruto says distractedly. He meows as Sakura leaves the room with him in her arms. He doesn't want to leave the room! He wants to stay and watch Naruto make a scroll normal size! Not that anyone seems to care about him meowing, they just seems to ignore that as the door closes and Sakura takes him into her room.

)-(Naruto)-(

He has a book about Hidden Leaf's laws open and is currently reading it in hopes of finding a way to retire from being a ninja without anyone kicking up too much of a fuss. The door opens and he looks up to find Sasuke glaring at him with vengeance shining in his eyes. He looks puzzled at this, not liking the smirk that promises pain and suffering. "Err, what's up Sasuke?" He asks as he closes the book. Sasuke takes a few steps into the room before turn around to close the door behind him also locking it.

Soon Sasuke turns towards him and he just feels like he's not about to like what Sasuke's going to do next. He automatically goes through the hand seals for a water shield. Water stands before him and Sasuke and though Sasuke seems surprised, he soon is doing some other hand seals. Then Sasuke rushes and before he can pull back away from the hand that passes through the shield, it grabs him and he feels something cover him. He loses focus on maintaining the shield and the water knocks him and Sasuke off their feet. He blacks out after hitting his head on the metal frame for the window.

To be continued …


	9. Chapter 9

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 9

He woke and noticed that Naruto was currently to his side and looking like a cross between a human and something else. He sighs, wondering just what possessed him to try that incomplete jutsu on the blond. Logically, it wasn't Naruto's fault that Sakura took him away, but he also didn't like the fact that Naruto didn't put up an argument about Sakura taking him away, even if he had been currently in the form of a cat.

He sighs and looks around the room to check and see if the sword is alright. He then gets up and walks towards the book Naruto had been reading. He frowns as he reads the title and then puts the book down on the bed. He's kind of stunned that nothing in the room was wet, though Naruto and himself were. He then glances at Naruto and frowns. He walk over and checks to see that Naruto's still alive, noticing that the Dobe was, he picks the … ex-blond boy up and carries him to the bed and then he walks over and picks up the sword.

He leaves the room to go and talk with Kakashi about what happened. He feels guilty about what he did and he hopes that they'll be able to reverse what he did to Naruto. He sighs as he thinks as he walks down the stairs. _'I wonder what else was affected by that jutsu.'_

)-(Naruto)-(

He blinks as he looks around the odd forest; he knows that this is a dream, for he doubts that huge crystal trees exist. He sighs and blinks as something snaps behind him. He turns to find Shadow there. "Shadow?" He asks. "Naruto?" The other says, as in not growling, snarling, or roaring as the black Organiod says his name. He just stares at his best friend in shock as Shadow seems equally stunned too.

"Are we sharing the same dream or something?" He wonders after a few minutes of silence. "You were guarding the sword, right?" Shadow asks. He nods and says, "Yea, then I read this scroll with a jutsu that creates a wooden house. Sakura came in and asking about Sasuke and took that black cat away. As I was reading that law book, Sasuke came in with a maniac look on his face…" He blinks and curses slightly as he remembers that Sasuke did some kind of jutsu. "What happened." Shadow demands. "Sasuke did some kind of weird jutsu before he passed through my water shield and grabbed me. I lost control of the shield and was knocked out along with Sasuke."

Shadow growls and curses quite creatively for a grand total of ten minutes, he didn't know that any of those things are even possible to do with a human, but he doubts that Shadow cares at this point. He gulps and blushes in turns at the colour descriptions that Shadow wishes to do with Sasuke's manhood. He knew that Shadow could have a mean temper, but this was the first time he witnessed this kind of behaviour from the Organoid.

Once Shadow's calmed down slightly, he says, "You can't do anything, we don't want anyone to know you exist, remember? Also, I'm sure that whatever jutsu Sasuke did wasn't harmful, I mean, Kakashi would have his hide if he did." Shadow nods reluctantly after thinking about it for a few minutes.

"So, you dream this forest up?" He asks, changing the subject. Shadow seems to calm down and allows the subject to change. "I find this place relaxing. The way I can dream how light shines on and through the trees… it calms me. Just because I lack certain characteristics when it comes to dealing with life doesn't mean I'm not allowed to dream up beautiful things." Shadow says. He grins and replies, "That's not what I'm thinking and you know it. So, you have anything to show off while we're here?" Shadow seems amused and soon leads the way out of the forest as they listen to some song that Shadow either remembers or thought up. _'Besides, what better way to spend a rainy day then with your best friend?'_ He thinks to himself as they walk calmly through the forest.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He sighs as Kakashi announces that Naruto will wake up when the jutsu wears off, which makes him extremely relieved, though Sakura patted him on the shoulder and says, "I'm sure whatever happened that he deserved it, Sasuke. I mean, he's not very social is he?" He tries his best to ignore her, he notices that Kakashi seems to look at Sakura in disappointment.

Soon they leave and he's alone with Naruto. He takes time to study the form that his jutsu created. Naruto has grey bluish fur and what appear to be bronze scales covering his body, it seems to clash, but in it's own way, they seems to work. Naruto's face is covered in fur with pointed ears that look to be ears of a cat or fox resting on the head. Naruto has a snout with the upper part being covered in fur, but the lower part in scales.

On Naruto's arms were scales with fur along the edge of the arms. Thick claws rest at the tips of Naruto's fingers, looking wickedly sharp. Naruto's legs were mirrors of Naruto's arms, only that instead of normal looking feet, it seems that Naruto's has the beginning of paws. Only four toes can be seen with claws that seem to curving down towards the ground, though if Naruto was awake and could walk around, he was sure that the claws would only scrap the floor if Naruto wasn't careful. He also seems a bit puzzled as to why Naruto would have such an odd mixture of scales and fur, but doubts that he'd figure it out and he just knows that Naruto wouldn't know about it either.

He sighs and glances over at Naruto's back pack. Though he's tempted to go through that pocket where the tiny scroll were, he doubts he'd be able to undo the jutsu on them to take a look at them. He sighs and sits down on the floor, not wanting to rest on the bed just in case Naruto wakes and decides to bash his head in once wake.

Slowly he's eyes begin to close and his head falls to his chest with his arms crossed. He just feels exhausted from worrying and he figures that when Naruto wakes, he'll be able to wake before Naruto does anything off the bat.

)-(Naruto)-(

He woke and blinks as smoke clears around him. He turns his head to check on the sword, seeing that its fine, he scans the room. He holds himself up by his arms and studies Sasuke from his position on the bed. He frowns slightly as he remembers the way Sasuke entered the room. As tempting as it was to get back at Sasuke for whatever jutsu he casted, he just couldn't be bothered, quoting Shikamaru: "Too troublesome."

He looks thoughtful as he thinks about his friends back at Hidden Leaf and sighs as he realises that he wouldn't mind playing a game of Go with Shikamaru or just plain cloud watching. He smiles sadly as he gets up off the bed. He sighs and shakes his head in hopes of dismissing his thoughts. He checks through his pack, just to make sure nothings missing and then picks up the sword and heads out of the room to grab a meal.

He soon is sitting at the table, waiting for someone to bring him something to eat. He studies the dinning room as he waits. "What did you do to Sasuke?" He looks startled as Sakura enters the room looking angry and ready to pummel someone into the ground. "What are you talking about? Other then him coming into my room with a crazy look in his eye, I hadn't seen him since we woke up." He says to Sakura in what he hopes is a calm tone. He just doesn't like the way Sakura's acting and he tries to resist doing that water shield jutsu.

Before Sakura could do or say anything, Kakashi appears between them. "What about a cat?" Kakashi asks casually. He blinks and sends a questioning look at Sakura, she just shrugs and he answers, "There was a black cat that appeared, though Sakura took off with it after asking where Sasuke was." Kakashi nods thoughtfully and says, "So it's not what Naruto did, but what you did Sakura." "Me? What do you mean? I wouldn't hurt Sasuke!" The pink haired girl says. "That cat was Sasuke using Henge." Kakashi says simply.

He froze as he recalls what he did before that cat and groans as the impact of what happened descended on him. "So you did do something with Sasuke!" Sakura shouts as she points a finger at him. "It's not what I did to Sasuke; it's what I did in front of him." He replies. Both looked at him, clearly wondering what he had done.

He's unwilling to talk about it and before either could press him for details, Sasuke walks in with a scowl on his face and pointy looking at Sakura. "Why were you shouting?" Sasuke demands. Sakura seems to freeze and Kakashi says, "Just wondering what Naruto did in your company before Sakura took off with you. You know that spying on one's team mate's is worrying, Sasuke. One might think you don't trust Naruto." Sasuke seems to flinch and then glare at their instructor.

He decides to keep out of this, even if he should be upset over what Sasuke did. _'I think I've been spending a little too much time with Shikamaru.'_ He thinks privately to himself. The three began a heated argument as his food arrives. He says thanks to the server and begins to eat once the server leaves the room. He tones out the others, he just didn't have the energy to listen in and maybe try his hand at playing peace keeper.

He blinks and watches as Sakura flees out of the room, from the sound of things, she's clearly upset. He notices that Kakashi seems to be berating Sasuke for making Sakura cry. Sasuke doesn't seem concerned and just looks impassive as Kakashi lectures Sasuke about team work. He continues to eat and begins to wonder just what happened within the last few minutes that would make Kakashi concerned about their team work and performance.

Soon Kakashi heads off to go speak with Sakura, leaving him alone, once again, with Sasuke. Sasuke notices him, finally, and walks over. The other sits down and he studies Sasuke in hopes of figuring out his mood. "Why did you Henge into a cat?" He asks after about five minutes. Sasuke looks uncomfortable and if he hadn't been looking for the right hints, he would think that Sasuke could careless about the question. He has patience, knowing that given time Sasuke will crack.

Sasuke finally cracks after a few minutes, says quietly, "I wanted to know more about you." He sighs and says, "You could always just asks, like a normal person." Once more, he notices how uncomfortable Sasuke is once he says that.

"Why didn't you do anything once you woke up?" Sasuke asks, changing the subject. He snorts, but allows the other to change the subject, for a while. "To quote a friend of mine: 'too troublesome.'" He says. Sasuke seems taken back by that, for he doesn't reply.

Silences reigns between the two of them, he's not disturbed by this. He kind of wonders why Sasuke seems to be interested in him, considering Sasuke never showed interested in anyone. He touches the sword at his side as he thinks about what this implies. Either of them broke the silences between them, even when the server comes back for his plate. They were alone with their thoughts until Kakashi appeared and he notices that Kakashi wants to speak with Sasuke alone, he left them alone.

To be continued …


	10. Chapter 10

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 10

The rain ends just after the day their client gets back from trip to get the gems. He reflects that it almost doesn't seem fair, though he has to admit that he's kind of glad to have some time away from his cell. Thinks hadn't really healed between Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke and that means to leave Sasuke socialising with him then with either of the others. One of the things that Sasuke talked with him about was that size jutsu he performs on the scrolls he has.

Bored out of his mind, he taught Sasuke the jutsu and observed Sasuke using the jutsu almost everything the dark haired boy can get his hands on. It was amusing truth be told, watching someone as serious as Sasuke act like a kid with a new toy. He also had Sasuke promise not to go through his collection of scrolls before he taught his team mate the jutsu.

He can't help but grin as he remembers the look in Sasuke eyes as he used the jutsu. Sasuke didn't shout out the name of the jutsu, but then, he didn't either and he also doubts that Sasuke would want to dwell on the incident, especially with what happened between Kakashi, Sakura, and himself. He's kind of lucky that none of the three seem to be angry with him, which is kind of a shock to him for he was sure that Sakura would find a way to blame him for the fight she had with Sasuke. It was kind of the first time he had been indirectly involved in an argument that didn't lead to anyone laying blame on his shoulders and he kind of had mixed feeling about that.

He looks up and sighs mentally as he notices the scout again. He's been calling this man the 'scout' for the simple reason that he always comes in every day and look around. At times the man would try and ask question under the pretext of being curious about his team mates and instructor. He usually just shrugs and says something along the lines of fine relations within the group and hope that the man leaves after he begins to ignore him.

He pauses and studies the 'scout' more carefully and begins to note that something's off. He presses his palm on a jutsu that will alert his teacher about a disturbance. He waits until it's warming up before moving his hand. He then acts like he usually does as he waits for things to unfold.

)-(Kakashi)-(

He's thoughts circle around the unfinished jutsu that Sasuke used on Naruto. The jutsu called Inner Beast Form and the reason it's considered unfinished was for the simple fact that it always seems to have different results with each victim. Though what's more troubling is the form that Naruto ended up in, he could see the elements of the fox demon within the form, but he was kind of uneasy about the scales and thick claws that were also present in the form Naruto ended up in, for it shows a conflict between the demonic Kitsune and Naruto's view of himself.

'_Just what kind of animal does Naruto see himself as? And is this the last time we'll see Naruto in that form?'_ He snaps out of his thoughts as he feels a pull towards town. He raises an eyebrow at this and puts his book away. He does the teleportation jutsu and soon finds himself on the roof of their client's building. He also notices a gang surrounding the building. He sighs and wonders just what kind of property damage will occur from the fight.

)-(Naruto)-(

Though he didn't show it, he was tense as three men entered the store with a swagger in their steps, meaning that they thought highly of themselves and that this was a piece of cake. He already has his left hand on his kunai pouch as he watches the conversation occurring between 'scout' and the other three. One of the men handed the 'scout' a long sword and then as one they turned to face him.

The men walked up to the counter and the one with his head shaved and has tattoos covering his head growls out, "Hand over the sword, kid, and we won't hurt you much." He smirks at this and says calmly, "It's my job to keep that sword from thugs like you and I don't see that changing anytime soon." The men laugh and the one that handed the sword to the man he still dubs scout says, "Just because you're playing ninja doesn't mean anything. We have this building surrounded and there's only one of you and thirty of us." He barks out a laugh at the number. "I alerted my teacher, I doubt your 'friends' can stand up to a jonin and as for numbers, I can even that out." He says and does the seals for Water Clone jutsu.

Soon five water clones appear around him. _'I was going for three, o well.'_ He thinks before saying, "If you can't beat them, then you don't stand a chance against me." The men growl and reach for their swords, before they could pull them out, his clones had always begun their assault on the thugs. Soon the clones drag the thugs out of the store before anything gets damaged.

"What's going on?" Their client asks from the door behind him. He answers without looking, "Just doing my job, sir. Don't worry, they'll keep the fight outside." "Good." Was the reply he receives from the smith and he tries his hardest not to get up off his stool and watch the fight. Soon four of his clones come walking into the store with Kakashi trailing behind. His instructor looks around and seems relieved that nothing's damaged. "Well, no real harm done. Mine having them," Kakashi thumbs at his clones, "Keep watch over the prisoners?" He glances over that the remaining clones and they walk out of the store.

With most of the citizens not attempting to enter the store, it leaves Kakashi and himself alone within the store. After a few minutes, the jonin says, "You seem to be getting along with Sasuke recently." He sighs and replies, "He's more interested in what I know then in getting along with me." Kakashi studies him before saying, "He might be trying and be your friend." He snort and says sourly, "We both know that considering Sasuke's ambition, that its doubtful that it's the case. Something will show up and Sasuke will try his very best to leave to get stronger. I might as well be a stepping stone in the long run." "Your not giving yourself a lot of credit." Kakashi says. He shrugs and replies, "It's not like I have any real plans on continuing my ninja career once I make chuunin. By then I should be able to retire without too many problems."

Kakashi seems to want to say something, but the police arrive and the older ninja heads out of the store to supervise the police take the thugs away. He sighs and wonders just what Shadow's doing at the moment. He smiles at the thought of his friend and naturally begins to think about the white Zoid that they found as well. He can't keep a grin from his face as he remembers the joy ride he took with Liger Zero.

)-(Shadow)-(

He can't believe how much it rained during the last few days. Other then that dream that he shared with Naruto, he hasn't seen the blond for some time. They were lucky enough to find some plastic tents lying about. They used these plastic to cover the Liger just in case it began to rain, considering this country was called Rain Country. It finally lived up to it's name a bout two days after finding Liger Zero.

He had been fusing with the Liger once a day, just to increase his ability to stay fused with the Zoid for longer period of time. He was stunned at how powerful the Zoid is and he's ability was increasing, he can now stay bonded with the Zoid core for thirty minutes, better then the four minutes that he started out with. He also can't help but wonder which Zoid would come out on top, the Geno Breaker or Liger Zero, for both were powerful Zoids that he couldn't spend a great deal of time bonded to without harmful effects.

He also had to marvel at how quickly he's been able to adapt to Liger Zero's power levels. He wonders if it might have something to do with the strange energy that ninjas use to do their jutsu. He kind of has to admit that he still can't understand how they access that energy and be able to do those hand seals to signal the specific jutsu that they want to do. He wonders what kind of rate his improvement in fusing with Liger Zero's core if he fuses with Naruto once again.

He pauses in his thoughts as his scanner beeps, meaning that a Zoid is coming within his range. He glances at Liger Zero, then opens his wings and takes off towards the unknown Zoid coming their way. It only takes him a good seven minutes of traveling through the air before he found the Zoid and its pilot.

He snorts as he identifies the Zoid as a Hel Digunner. He pauses and begins to observe the group of humans around the Zoid. He lands softly and moves into range to listen to what's going on. He notices the music symbol on the headbands of four of the men gathered around. "Are you sure one of the boys has a fan on his back?" The pale man that reminds him of a snake asks. "My source confirms it." The man surrounded by eight guards with the same uniform. "Excellent! We'll put the plan into action in three days." The pale man says and he snorts as they chat about details.

He turns and decides something on a whim. He opens his wings and then jets through the air as quickly as his jets can carry him. He rips the Zoid core out of the Hel Digunner with ease. He hears gasps of shock as the Zoid turns to stone. He hovers over the tree tops, letting those below get a good look at him and then ascends higher into the air before heading back to the Liger. He feels satisfied with the looks he received from the group of men. He knows that those ninja were shock to their core that the thought that something as small as him could do that to a much larger Zoid.

'_What do they want with Sasuke?'_ He thinks as he flies lands by the Liger Zero. He has quite a bit to think about until Naruto comes for a visit. He just knows that something bad was on the way, he just wonders if it'll affect Naruto deeply. Thinks rarely turns out fine for the blond, which makes him stand firm that if anything happens to Naruto, he'll be there to defend the blond. He wasn't going to lose his latest partner to a bunch of power hungry humans, not without a fight.

)-(Sasuke)-(

His dreams changes and he frozen in front of a huge snake, he feels dread emanating from the gigantic snake. As the snake moves to bite him, something gets in the way and he stands before the body of his blond team mate. He flinches as he hears someone laugh in dark amusement as he can't take his eyes off his fallen team mate.

Then something appears opposite of him and he notices a man with yellow eyes that reminds him of a snake. Then he watches as a pair of glowing blue eyes appear behind the man and then a sudden snap and the pale man falls to the ground with his neck at an odd angle and he feels that whatever owns those glowing blue eyes, that they weren't satisfied with just this man's death.

He wakes in a sweat and searches the room for either the pale man or for a pair of glowing blue eyes. The door opens and Naruto enters into the room. The blond cocks his head to the side and gives him a puzzled look. He gulps as the image of Naruto's dead body enters his mind. He bolts out of the room, not able to face Naruto at the moment.

To be continued …


	11. Chapter 11

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 11

He frowns as he remembers how Sasuke bolted from the room once he walked into it to grab a change of clothing. He just sighs and then grabs some clean cloths, making a mental note to do his laundry once he gets back from visiting Shadow. As he was leaving, Kakashi is standing by the stairs. "Is there any reason why Sasuke bolted through the hallway?" The jonin asks. "I think he had a nightmare and on seeing me enter the room, he just couldn't remain in my presence." He answers honestly.

Kakashi nods and moves out of his way. He soon leaves the inn as he heads off towards where Liger Zero is hiding. He wants to visit Shadow before having a cold bath in a small stream. It takes him a few minutes, but he arrives at the spot after traveling at a fast pace through the forest. He grins as he comes within sight of the multicoloured coverings that rest over the Liger Zero.

"Shadow!" He cries out as he notices the black Organoid lying on the ground. The black metal Dragon looks over at him and growls out a greeting. He slows up into a jog as soon as he spots his friend. Shadow also gets up off the ground and waits for him to come closer. He slows to a walk once he's within ten feet of Shadow.

He looks puzzled about something, the feeling he feels rolling off of Shadow is satisfaction as well as worry. "What's wrong?" He asks once he's within three feet of Shadow. Shadow makes a throaty sound and he waits for Shadow to tell him, curious as to what happened to make Shadow think before telling him what happened.

/----

He frowns slightly as he follows Shadow through the forest. It's been two days since Shadow told him about the Sound ninjas and Shadow knows where to find them. So he decided to check them out before what ever event they're planning to do tomorrow, happens. He didn't want to be caught unawares by their appearance or behaviour.

Oddly enough, he felt like something within him had woken up and also seems interested in what's going to happen. He has to admit that it's kind of freaky feeling to feel from one's own body. He tries to shake those thoughts out of his head, deciding that they're caused by him reaching puberty.

He pushes those thoughts out of his head as he trails behind Shadow, trying to figure out how to tell Kakashi about these Sound ninjas. He didn't want them to have the upper hand in what's about to happen tomorrow. A stray thought about the message he left just in case he experiences a critical injury. It gives the descriptions of the Sound ninjas that Shadow told him. He just hopes it he's not in over his head doing this.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He muses as he watches Naruto's still body on the bed. It's been a day since they're encounter with the Sound ninjas and they still haven't figured out just how Naruto found out about the ninjas, only that he headed off the pervious night to spy on them. It was Kakashi that found the note about what Naruto was doing and the jonin came for them to help find Naruto.

He frowns as he remembers what happened once they arrived.

?-?

He flinches as he feels some kind of dread aura radiating from somewhere ahead. He turns his head slightly to the left to find that Sakura paler then usual. He looks ahead, cursing the blond for getting into this mess. Though he'll be the first to admit that this promises to be more interesting then guarding the shop.

Kakashi motions for them to slow up and they do. Kakashi stops and they make it to the tree that Kakashi is currently resting on. "You two will grab Naruto and run, I'll try my best to keep them occupied so you escape." Then the jonin pauses, then continues, "The man Naruto described being the leader is a S-rank missing nin, so this isn't the time to play hero. If I don't show up after forty minute, abort the mission and race back to Hidden Leaf and report to Lord Hokage about what happened. There's a high probability that I'll be killed holding them back."

He looks stunned that their instructor, he feels chills race down his spin and then through his entire body. _'If Kakashi doesn't think he'll make it out alive, then…'_ He swallows and feels his fist shake as he fights down his roaring emotion. Fear was the major emotion that he's feeling and it brought back memories about his clan's murder.

An image of Naruto's dead body enters his mind and he closes his eyes, trying to banish it. He growls and says, "Then what are we waiting for? Naruto might be dead now!" Kakashi and Sakura look surprise, but he narrows his eyes. "If we're going to do this, then lets hurry this up! Naruto might not have long to live if we're just standing here!" He practically shouts out.

He's also hoping that by shouting at the other two members of his cell that he'll be able to calm down as well. He launches himself off the tree and towards the next one. He continues, focusing his fear into launching himself forward. He will not let Naruto died without at least trying to save the blond. Oddly enough, he just knows that this wasn't just about Naruto getting kill, but to prove that his not the same little coward he had been when he was six years old and his brother telling him, no ordering **him** to run away.

Soon he arrives at the scene of the battle to find not only Naruto hurt and bleeding profoundly, but also one of the Sound ninja dead as well. He flinches as something sends Naruto flying through the air; he blinks and notices a man that had been in his dreams. "Naruto!" Sakura's voice rings out behind him. He curses mentally to himself as the pale man looks at Sakura and then leers at him.

"Well, well, well, my prize prey comes to me instead me hunting him." The man says in a creepy voice. He swallows as he feels like a mouse before a cat. _'Or before a hungry snake.'_ He thinks as he suppresses a shiver and snaps out of it as Naruto moves to stand up. "So what am I? Some discarded toy? You're alone now because you underestimated me. Now with my team mates here, you'll be running away with your tail between your legs." Naruto says as he knees, for Naruto doesn't have any strength left to stand.

The man turns to look at Naruto and says in a sneer, "You might have lived longer if you kept you mouth shut." Naruto chuckles soundlessly, which sent a chill down his spin. "You wouldn't have liked the results if you did, snake man. I have a life to look forward to and right now, you're just in the way." Naruto says in a light voice, like he's in charge and not kneeling down as his life blood pours out of him. "Naruto…" He says softly, not sure how to react to how Naruto's acting.

Then a thought crosses his mind and he looks around the forest in search of any signs of Kakashi. _'We just need to buy time, but what's Kakashi planning?'_ He thinks, some how, that calms his nerves despite the fact that, to borrow Naruto's nickname, snake man's aura just increased. Though it puzzles him how despite being seriously injured, that Naruto could still act as if he's not in pain.

He has been moving slowly towards Naruto, leaving Sakura frozen in place. Pale snake man seems to be smirking, clearly amused by what Naruto said. "You're quite insolent, boy. Perhaps I should teach you some manners." The man says in amusement. He watches as a sword comes out of snake man's mouth. As the man raises the sword, he charges, his hands flying through a jutsu without him even thinking about it, he grabs a hold of Naruto to pull him away, but once he touches Naruto, he's thrown back by some force.

He pales as he watches Naruto's whole body pulse. He then realises which jutsu he used and swallows nervously. Naruto's body begins to grow and the odd mixture of fur and scales begins to grow on Naruto's body. Though Naruto seems to be screaming, no sound was heard. Even snake man moves backwards to give Naruto more room. What remain of Naruto's cloths bursts at the seams and Naruto falls forward. Naruto's body continues to grow and wings grow from Naruto's shoulder blades. Naruto continues to grow more beast-like, a tail grows from Naruto's butt and within three seconds, a blade grows at the tip of the tail.

The transformation took a whole ten minutes from start to end and the creature that Naruto transformed into throws back his head and roars. He gulps as the creature turns to look at him with navy blue eyes. After taking a sniff, the creature that is Naruto turns to the snake man and growls throatily. The man takes a fighting stance, from the looks of things the man's oozing with confidence at facing the freaky creature that Naruto transformed into.

Within a minute of studying snake man, Naruto snaps at the man and takes a swipe with one of his fore paws. One of the talons on the forepaw rips the man's shirt and before getting the chance to go on the offensive, Naruto is attacking the man unrelentingly. Even he can't believe that the man can dodge most of the attacks from Naruto.

"Orochimaru seems to have met his match, for the moment anyway." Kakashi says from behind him. He turns and blinks owlishly at his teacher. "Why didn't Naruto pass out like last time?" He asks. "Inner Beast Form jutsu is unstable for this very reason. You continue to get different results with every use, even when used on the same victim. We should be glad that he's not attacking randomly and all we can do is just sit it out. So we just need to wait for it to wear off." Kakashi says. He blinks and sighs before saying, "I guess I messed up again." "Maybe or maybe not, it depends on the outcome of this fight." Kakashi says lightly.

He blinks as he muses on that thought as he returns to watching Naruto as this strange creature now fight a large purple snake summon. He watches as Naruto leaps into the air, spreading his wings. Naruto flies out of reach of the snake and begins to dive bomb the snake summon. The snake tries to use its tail as a whip on the fifth dive bomb. Naruto snarls and bites down on the tail, with his hind paws landing before the front part. The snake bites Naruto's neck with lightening speeds.

Snake man tries to dispel the jutsu, it doesn't work. Naruto raises his right paw and takes a swipe at the snake's head. The snake couldn't let go fast enough and Naruto bats the snake using his left forepaw. Naruto moves in and bites down hard on the purple snake's throat, causing the snake summon to disappear in a cloud of smoke. Naruto roars triumphantly with his wings spread.

After a few minutes, Naruto falls forward and his whole body shrinks into that humanish breast form, but this time with wings. They rush over and find that Naruto seems to be passed out once more. The injuries that Naruto had were gone. Sakura gathers up what remains of Naruto's kunai pouch. He helps move Naruto onto Kakashi's back. He looks around, he sighs, suddenly feeling exhausted, even though he didn't really do anything.

?-?

He turns to find Kakashi appearing at the door with a plate with a tea pot and some cups on it. "Hasn't woken up yet?" Kakashi asks. Though Naruto's now human, he still hasn't woken up yet. He just shakes his head and then gets up off the floor.

He follows Kakashi out of the room and into the room Kakashi's using. He wonders how Sakura is doing, guarding the shop without having much rest. None of them have had a decent night's rest since Naruto's transformation. Everything just feels so surreal and he's still numb about what he did to Naruto yet again.

To be continued …


	12. Chapter 12

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 12

He lies with Shadow to his right. He sighs as he plays over what happened in the fight between him and snake man. He's lucky that Shadow helped him stay in control as that really violent presents tried to get him attack mindlessly. He's kind of disturbed at his lack of control when pressed with all those negative emotions charging through his mind. What's even more eerie was the intensity of the emotions and how he had almost been swapped up in them without any real way to ground himself.

Shadow had been in deep thought since they arrived within their shared mindscape. He didn't know how long they've been here, but it feels like a while. He decides to break the silences that's been reigning between them, he asks, "What do you think happened?" "I think you need to get some answers out of Kakashi. There's something about this that might answer most of our questions." Shadow replies. He sighs and nods as he says, "I just hope he willing to answer them."

They get up and he summons a door. He glances over at Shadow, but finds that his friend has already woken up. He smiles slightly and then turns to face the door and walks through it. Light flashes before his eyes, then there is darkness.

He cracks his left eye open slightly and sighs as he notices how bright the room seems. He closes his left eye and then forces his eyes open, trying to resist the temptation of just closing his eyes. He rolls onto his right side and then sits up with his feet moving to the edge of the bed. He shivers as the cold air touches his semi-bare body; someone had the decency to put some boxers on him. He looks around and after touching the cold floor, he pulls his feet up and crawls to the end of the bed for his pack. He grabs it and begins to grab clothing out of it.

So he's wearing socks to keep his feet warm, a blue long sleeve shirt, and matching long pants. He shivers as he gets off the bed and walks towards the door. He looks in the hall and then he walks toward Kakashi's room. He cracks the door open and blinks as he finds Sasuke and Kakashi having tea. "Naruto, you're up." Sasuke says in surprise, the dark boy not able to keep his emotion in check. He nods, he shifts his weight and asks, "How long have I been out?" "About a whole day, rested?" Kakashi asks. He nods his head, relieved that it hadn't been very long.

As he's about to ask to speak with Kakashi alone, his stomach growls to remind him he hasn't eaten in over a day. He looks sheepish and Sasuke snorts, having gotten over his surprise and returned to his normal behaviour. "Do you want something brought up or would you prefer to head down by yourself?" Kakashi asks. He thinks about it and then says, "I'll go down stairs. Also, I want to talk with you about something that happened during the fight, Kakashi." Kakashi nods, it seems that Kakashi clearly not surprised that he would ask to speak with him alone. Before leaving the room he studies Sasuke for about two seconds.

He then closes the door behind him and walks down stairs. His thoughts weren't really anywhere as he enters the dinning room. He sits down and within two minutes, one of the servers takes his order and he then sits back and waits for his food to arrive. He doesn't really try to focus in on anything as he waits, just enjoying the paintings that hang around the room.

His food arrives and he thanks the server. He then slowly eats his meal; he didn't feel like rushing through his meal. Just as he finishes three quarters of his meal, Sasuke enters the room alone. He nods to Sasuke and Sasuke walks over and sits down. He looks thoughtful as Sasuke tries keep his curiosity under control. "Is there anything you want to ask?" He asks Sasuke, breaking the so called ice between them.

His lips twinge slightly at how relieved Sasuke seems after hearing that. "I'm sorry for using that jutsu on you again." Sasuke tries to say in a masked tone. He just grins and replies, "It worked out fine, right? That snake didn't stand much of a chance." Sasuke looks sharply at him and he adds, "I just have to hope you'll never have to use that jutsu on me ever again, right? Or do you feel so guilty about it that you want me to use it on you?" Sasuke glares at him, he knows that Sasuke was trying to open up to him, but he didn't want connect too much with Sasuke, after all, he now has almost everything in place for his retirement and he didn't want to leave too many people who cared about him behind when he leaves this world and migrates to Zi to become a Zoid pilot.

Sasuke recovers and says, "You're really an idiot, you know that? I'm trying to apologize here." He smiles and says, "I know, but you know what my future plans are. I don't want to leave behind too many friends, Sasuke." Sasuke's seems surprise on hearing that. "You really think someone would send you on a suicide mission because of some grudge?" Sasuke asks. He nods and replies, "Don't you have a grudge that you can't see yourself letting go of?" Sasuke's expression darkens and he says, "See? If you can't then the chances of most of the village will is nil. And trust me, I've tried asking people why they don't like me and they never gave me any real valid reason. I doubt you'd have any luck in that department either, Ice King."

Sasuke glares at the Ice King comment and says, "Out of to you and Sakura, there's more to you then you let on and I'm going to be waiting to see it, Dobe. And just for future refinance, I do need friends or want them for they hold you back." He snorts and says, "Really, then why are you so concerned about me?" "The chunin exams going to be happening in a month or two and only teams are allow to participate. You're part of this team and therefore I have taken it upon myself to make sure that you and Sakura are able to enter." Sasuke replies. _'I believe your just trying to fool yourself, lair. But I'm not going to call you on it.'_ He thinks as he rolls his eyes at Sasuke.

"I don't suppose you informed Sakura about this little decision?" He asks in his best innocent tone. Sasuke growls at him and glares, daring him to say anything more on the matter. He gives Sasuke a look of puzzlement and then watches as the brooding boy gets up and leaves the room, most likely to go train. He sighs and feels sorry for having to push Sasuke like that, but knew that in the long run, it was for the best.

'_Then there's his goal of revenge. He's fixated on that goal and he'll let his consume him in the end. I wonder how far he'll go to gain the power to kill that guy?'_ He thinks to himself. He finishes the rest of his meal and then heads up stair to speak with Kakashi. He glances over at the front door before walking towards the stairs. He sighs and shakes his head slightly in hopes of banishing the urge to seek out Sasuke and try to smooth things over between them.

)-(Shadow)-(

He trots through down paths of the surrounding forest. He had already checked up on the Liger and it was fine, he had a lot to think about and he decided to go for a run just to keep himself from thinking too deeply on the matters he's worried about. First and foremost, he was concerned about the source of all of those negative emotions. He had an idea, but he didn't know if it were possible.

'_Could Naruto have that demon fox that attacked Hidden Leaf within him?'_ Is the thought that circles within his mechanical brain, for in his mind it would explain why the villagers consider his friend and partner a monster, for it means that they know that the demon was sealed within the blond. Despite that, he just knows that Naruto's as human as any other.

Many images flash within his mind's eye, of Naruto displaying many different emotions. If he could do facial features, he would have a scowl on his face as he feels his fury burn brightly. If he wasn't so worried at what would happen if anyone found out about him, he would have long ago fused with a Zoid and unleash his fury and displeasure on those that treated the blond poorly. He reminds himself that the time was coming when they'll leave that village behind, though how they'll make it to Zi he doesn't know but he just knows that if things keep going their way, they'll be leaving the village once Naruto makes chunin and retires as a ninja through legal means.

He then moves onto the next order of busy, which is having Naruto gain battle experience with the Liger Zero. Personally, he doesn't like the white armour that the Liger has and he doubts they'll find enough paint to recolor it in another colour. Also, with him partnered with Naruto, the chances of the Liger evolving into something more suited to the blond. He would be smirking if he could as thoughts of what kind of improvements that could happen once Naruto gains more experience in battle as well as piloting the Zoid.

His startled to find that his within sight of the inn that Naruto's staying at, he changes directions as well as slow down. He circles the inn once and very slowly as to not draw any attention from either of Naruto's team mates and teacher. Satisfied, he heads back to where the Liger is resting and decides to fuse with the Zoid for a bit, just to see how much improvement he has made since the last time he has done so.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He has mixed feelings, even now that it's been about three hours since he spoken with Naruto. Oddly enough, he doesn't blame Naruto for pushing him away, he's actually glad that the blond did, he's more angry at himself for trying to befriend the Dobe and forgetting that he has no need for friends, for they only get in the way.

He growls and does the hand seals for Great Fireball and aims for the rock in the middle of the river. As he releases his breath and watches as a large ball of fire covers the stone. Once it vanishes, he breathes shallowly and quickly, that jutsu does take a lot out of him and that one was his forth within the last three hours.

Ever since he left the inn, he's been pushing himself once he arrived by this river. He's trying to clear his head but it wasn't working. He wonder, vaguely, if he the reason why he's trying to befriend Naruto might be that the blond doesn't want to be a ninja for the rest of his life and that made the blond safe in some really odd way. He frowns as he thinks about how easily the blond had ambushed him that one time.

He sighs and walks towards the bank. "You might want to come back to the inn before you catch a cold." He turns and finds Kakashi leaning on a tree, reading his novel. He grunts and sits down on the grass, feeling tired. He notices that the sun has set and then his stomach rumbles, meaning that he's hungry. "I'll never be as strong as him, will I?" He says out loud. "Which him do you mean?" Kakashi asks.

He sighs and replies, "Both of them." "Ah." Is all that Kakashi says. He looks up into the sky, searching for a star or something as the night sky continues to darken. "If you're tired, I'll gladly carry you back to the inn." His teacher offers. He throws a sour look over at the older ninja, then climbs onto his feet. "Naruto is?" He asks. "Went to guard the shop. Also, the sword's almost done, so we'll be leaving soon." Kakashi tells him as he leads the way back to the inn. He sighs mentally as an image of his brother appears in his mind and then replaced by Naruto's image. He frowns and looks downward at the path, he just couldn't find it within himself to be jealous of Naruto for being stronger then him. He knows that he'll never have the same determination that the blond has, even if the Dobe's goal is something he knows is a waste of talent.

To be continued …


	13. Chapter 13

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

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Chapter 13

He did wonder what Kakashi had been doing over the last three days, just before they left. He wonders if Kakashi finally got serious about searching for more Zoids for Hidden Leaf, but he did wonder just how Kakashi planned for those Zoids to journey back to Hidden Leaf without alerting Sakura and him. He sighs and tries to think of something else as they walk down the road, back to Fire Country.

Shadow left with the Liger after he told the Organoid about the Kyuubi being sealed within him. He hopes that Shadow will be able to find a hiding spot for the Liger that's close to Hidden Leaf. He didn't want anyone else other then Shadow and him piloting the white Zoid. Not only was the cat type Zoid a stepping stone, but also the Zoid he wishes to use as he makes his way as a Zoid pilot. He grins as he remembers the test run he had once they had found the Zoid. He truly wishes to repeat that and more.

He blinks as he notices that Sakura wasn't at his side, he looks behind him and finds that Sakura seems to be thinking about something and she seems sad. Knowing that neither of the other members of their cell were going to notice Sakura, he slows up and asks once Sakura is by his side, "You want to talk about it?" Sakura seems startled and then smiles sheepishly. Sakura looks sad and asks, "Do you think I'm in the way?" He blinks at this comment and replies, "Who told you that? Wait, never mind. Look Sakura, you're hearts in the right place, but you do have habits that aren't helping you become a better ninja." Sakura looks surprise and asks, "What habits are you talking about?" He smiles slightly at the tone and says, "You're dieting, is a major one."

Sakura's eyes flash dangerously, but he continues. "You don't need to worry about getting plumped if you train hard and often." Sakura growls for about a few seconds before she says, "Sasuke doesn't like fat or muscle girls." He snorts and counters, "You know, I don't believe any of you fan girls ever got a full sentence out of Sasuke. And if that's true, then you truly don't know what Sasuke's looking for in a girl, right?" The look on Sakura's face proves him right.

"Why don't you ask Sasuke about what he likes in a girl?" Sakura asks. He chuckles at that and Sakura asks in a sharp tone, "What's so funny?" "You really believe that Sasuke's as hooked up on girls like you are on boys? For one thing, think about his ambition of killing that guy." He says after he calms down enough to speak with a straight face. "He also wants to revive his clan!" Sakura says a bit loudly. He sighs and looks over at the back of the preteen that they're currently talking about. "So how, I think he wants his revenge first and then do that, if he's still alive." He says the last part softly.

Sakure rounds on him by saying, "Sasuke will kill that guy with ease! He's a genius!" He rolls his eyes and asks, "If the guy can kill Sasuke's whole clan, who by the way most likely have activated their bloodline limit, what are the chances that Sasuke, who hasn't activated it, would be able to kill the guy?" He watches as Sakura begins to process this and within two minutes, he watches as Sakura's eyes widen as she realises that he's got a really good point.

He decides to steer the conversation back on course. "If you want Sasuke to pay attention to you, you'd have to become a better ninja and be able to do things that he himself can't do. If you can do something and he can't, he'll have to sit up and pay attention to you. And don't give me that look, Sasuke will always look at those that he considers strong opponents and ignore those that aren't. That's why he talks to me, he knows that in my own way, I'm stronger then him." He informs her. Sakura gives him a dirty look, then begins to think about what he told her.

They continue walking side by side, he glances ahead and notices that Kakashi was looking over his should and seems to be giving him an approving look. He blinks as Kakashi turns away, he wonders if Kakashi had been overhearing their conversation. He sighs and decides that it probably doesn't matter in the long run.

/----

They arrived at the gate after a week of walking. They're mission had been a success and they were going to have a few days off, well that's what Kakashi hinted at as he giggled at something he head been reading. Kakashi giggles once more, which just causes him and the others to sigh. He did have to admit, it was kind of unnerving for a grown man to giggle like a little girl. They shared looks as they walk up to the open gate.

Finally their teacher puts the book away as they stop before the guards. The guards then motion for them to continue on their way once Kakashi shows them the passports. After walking for about ten minutes, Kakashi turns to them and says, "Dismissed and we'll meet up again in four days, so enjoy your holiday." Then Kakashi vanishes in a swirl of leaves.

"See you around." He says as he walks towards one of the seedier parts of the village. He hears Sakura shout out a good bye as he walks away. He just waved his right hand in the air for a few seconds, letting her know that he heard. Though it takes him a while to make it to his apartment by this route then if he had taken the direct route, he just didn't want to deal with the glares he'd receive if he walked straight to his apartment.

He arrives and sighs as he finds his door open. He shakes his head as he finds a huge mess within. He snorts as he studies it. He then heads down the stairs and to the manager's office. Checking to see if it's locked, he then rummages around in his back and finds some lock picks he packed. He picks the lock and opens the door. He glances around at the paper work and soon finds the safe. He gets it open and takes everything that's within and then walks out of the office; he locks the door and heads to the roof.

He had this kind of trouble before and the last time this happened was when he was nine. He had the Hokage's approve to deal with this as he sees fit if it ever happened again, he wonders if the manager forgot about that warning. He grins as he considers just how the man will react once he finds out that the safe's been broken into.

It was about an hour when he hears the manger's voice yell out, "I've been robbed!" He then checks the time, counting down the minutes before he would confront the man. He watches the front door for when the manager comes out and waits for help to arrive. Within two minutes of watching, the man comes out. He slips down the side of the building with ease.

"You will clean my apartment or put me in a new one." He says once he stands behind the man. The man whirls on him in rage, but pales as the manager finds him whirling a kunai on a finger. "It's your problem, not mine if your apartment gets broken into." The man says once he recovers. "That's how you interrupt it, but I believe the Hokage would agree that it's your job to ensure that every apartment under your care is safe and sound. Therefore, you'll fix this problem or I'll turn the papers over to the Third. I'm sure he'll be interested in what's written on these pages." He says and once he notices the man's reactions, he kind of wishes he had read them while he had been waiting.

The man growls, "Let's see what the council has to say about that!" He smiles sweetly and his hands go through the Henge jutsu with ease. A puff of smoke surrounds him and once cleared, he appears to be the man. "Not if you don't report it." He says and he punches takes the man out with a single punch. He carries the heavy body into the bushes that surround the front grounds and then waits for someone to arrive.

Soon someone did and he gruffly tells them that he found them and the 'punk' that took them. After a few questions were answered, the guy walks away; he had noticed the emblem on the man's jacket. A puff sounds out as he cancels the jutsu. He walks towards the Hokage Tower, knowing that he better report to the Hokage that something's up with the council. He wonders briefly if he'll be allowed to keep all that money that he found within the safe.

'_If it's not one thing, it's always another.'_ He thinks as he takes the direct route, ignoring the people that were glaring at him as he walks. He wonders if he shouldn't have done a Henge, but squashes that thought. He will not live his whole life under some mask.

Once he reaches the tower, he walks past the guards and straight towards the Third's office. He tones out the voices of disapproval as he continues towards his goal. He grins a bit as he walks into the waiting room. There isn't anyone behind the desk, so he just walks pass the chunin guard. "You can't go in there!" The chunin shouts as he opens the door. "What seems to be the problem?" The old man behind the desk asks. "This 'person' just barraged in without an appointment." The chunin says in out rage. "You said that if I had something important to say to you, that I'm welcome anytime. So here I am." He says as the Third looks at him. "Thank you for your concern, Masaru." The Third says to the chunin.

He waits until the man leaves before taking out the shrunken documents and money he took from the safe. He places them on the desk and cancels the jutsu over them. "What all this?" The Third asks as he picks up one of the sheets of paper. "It's what was in my ex-manager's safe." He says as he sits down. Hokage rises an eyebrow at the title he gave the man who owned the building he had been living at. "What happened?" The old man asks with a sigh. "Simple. When I came back, my apartment was broken into and was a huge mess. I headed to the office to confront the man, but sadly, the man was gone. So I pick the lock and broken into the safe. Once I had this stuff in hand, I headed to the roof to wait the man's return."

He pauses to calm himself, he hadn't been angry when he found his apartment a ruin, but the emotion finally arrived and he didn't want to take it out on the Third, the man was the closest man to a grandfather he ever had and knew that the old man didn't deserve to be a target of his rage. Once he felt he had more control over his emotions, he continued. "About an hour later, he returned and found that the safe had been broken into. He called someone and came outside to wait for them. I came up behind him and told him that he either cleans up my apartment or gets me a new one. I threaten to give these," He waves his hand at the documents on the desk, "to you. He then said something along the lines about the council and I used Henge to take his form and punched him knocked him out. I hide body in the bushes and when someone arrived, I lied about what happened and then walked here to give these to you." He nods his head at the sheets of paper.

The Third's eyes widen and then the old man studies the documents with more interest. "So you don't have any place to spend the night?" The Third asks. He sighs and says, "Might just camp it out, you know, stay out of sight for the next few days." The Hokage sighs and nods. "Just contact me if you need anything." The old man says. He pauses and as he gets up, "I don't suppose some of that money could be… miss placed?" The Third smiles at that.

To be continued …


	14. Chapter 14

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

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Chapter 14

He yawns as he glances at the screen. It's been about two days since the incident at his ex-apartment building. The Third had given him a third of the money he found in the safe before he had left the office. He then found a place for his pack and headed off to visit with Shikamaru and Choji.

He had spent most of the remaining day with the two before heading off to find Shadow. Shadow was enraged at the antics of the man that owned the building and had wanted to do something personal to the man; he managed to talk Shadow out of exploding the building by using explosive tags as well as keeping Shadow from fusing with the Liger Zero to put the fear of God in the man as and then destroy the building. Some how, he offered to do something that Shadow wanted him to do, so that's how he ended in the cock pit of the Liger Zero looking for opponents to battle. He's also learnt how to sleep within the cock pit just in case someone tries to steal the white Zoid from him.

He blinks as the scanners begin to beep and he goes through the process to find out what kind of Zoid is approaching them. "Shadow, I think you need to hide." He says once opens a com link with the black Organoid. Shadow growls his agreement. He brings up the specs of the Zoid that's on it's way towards him. According to the info that the computer is printing out, the Zoid is a Sinker which is a Ray type Zoid. It's small and highly manoeuvrable in the water and in the air. He grins as it attack with missiles; he wonders just what attacks he should try out during this battle.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He frowns as he checks the time, not only is Kakashi late, as usual, but so is Naruto. It's about time for Kakashi to appear and yet Naruto isn't here. He frowns wondering if the blond did something stupid like try and set free the animals from the pound because he couldn't stand the thought of the suffering the animals are going through. _'Dobe needs learn to control his emotions.'_ He thinks as he frowns at the spot Naruto usually leans on as they wait for Kakashi.

A familiar figure walks towards them and he scowls as he notices that it isn't Naruto. "Where's Naruto?" He demands once their instructor is within speaking range. "He had an appointment with the Third, so it'll just be the three of us for the day." Kakashi says. "What happened?" Sakura asks in a curious tone. "It's just something to do about Naruto's living arrangements." Their teacher replies lightly.

He frowns on hearing this and asks, "That's it?" Kakashi just nods and they soon follow the jonin to their next mission. As they went, he couldn't stop thinking about what their teacher told them about. _'You had better be fine.'_ He thinks before asking Kakashi about what mission they have to do.

/----

They had done about four D ranked missions this day and he's irritated at how many D ranked missions that they received without Naruto being with them today. He frowns as he wonders if they were kept busy so they don't go hunt for Naruto and find out what's happening with the blond. He glares at Kakashi as he asks, "Will Naruto be joining us tomorrow?" Their instructor replies, "It depends on how things work out today." "And just what was supposed to happen today?" He asks. "Naruto finding a new place to live, well you're dismissed." Kakashi says and then vanishes in a whirl of wind and leaves, leaving him alone with Sakura.

He scowls and turns on his heels and walks away, but before he's taken five steps Sakura asks, like usual, "You want to eat super with me, Sasuke?" "Not really." He answers and continues on walking away without looking back at his other team mate.

He didn't keep an eye on where he's going, he was too busy pondering about Naruto and whether the Dobe was fine. He blinks as he finds himself before the entrance to the base they were keeping the Zoids and that small red dragon-like Zoid. He then notices that there's a thin crack and walks towards the doors. He scans the area, then squeezes through the crack.

He trips and falls as his right leg gets caught between the doors. He frees his leg and then looks up into the air. He gasps at the sight before him, he slowly gets up off the ground as he continues to stare wide eyed at the black Zoid before him. He then begins to circle the black Zoid with golden trim. He notices the canine appearance of the Zoid and after surveying the Zoid, he decides it looks like a fox. There's a mounted gun on the back and he wonders why it has four pipes as the exit point.

He then glances around the area, then begins to climb up the left foreleg to get to the cockpit. It was strenuous but it was worth it as the cock pit opens and he slides into the seat. He grins as he watches the Shadow Fox come to life. He blinks as he tries to figure out how he knew what this Zoid is called. After about a few seconds he just shakes his head and begins to try and figure out how to get the Shadow Fox moving.

After a few minutes of touching random switches and buttons, the Shadow Fox's screen activates and he studies the display. He then slowly moves this stick as well as slides this odd lever. Soon the Shadow Fox is moving… towards the door or through what's left of the door. They rammed through the door and where now running through the forest. He barely manoeuvres the Zoid from crashing through trees. Despite the fact that this was highly dangerous and that he's most likely going to be in trouble for this, he was having a great time. There was just something about controlling a large, mechanical beast that makes his blood sing with joy. He couldn't keep a grin off his face as he begins to figure out how to slow up and speed up.

Soon something is beeping and he pushes a few buttons in hopes that one of them will explain what the beeping is all about. An image of two Command Wolves and the Hell Cat appears, he then notices that the beeping has changed and is trying to figure out what that means. Soon something called a Com Link is activated. An image of a Leaf Ninja appears and the first words out of the man's mouth is, "Sasuke?" He slows the Shadow Fox and composes himself. He wonders just how he'll talk his way out of this.

)-(Naruto)-(

He can't believe he had to buy his own house. It just seemed so… observed that nobody would rent an apartment to him. Luckily, he got the house practically dirt cheap, it seems that the area the house is located in was part of the village that the Kyubi had been heading towards and nobody wanted to live within the area, henths how he could afford a three level house with a huge back yard.

"Well, it seems that we'll have to go furniture shopping tomorrow." The Third says. He smiles and nods as he studies the house. "Thanks for accompanying me today, old man." He says to the man that was the only family figure in his life, practically his grandfather. The Hokage pats him on the shoulder and says, "Think nothing of it, now I'll come by tomorrow morning, so get some rest." He smiles and nods as he says, "I'll be expecting you." He turns his head and watches as the Third walks through the small gate. He sighs and had to admit that it had been a while since they had spent a great deal of time together.

He notices that it's darkening out and he walks towards the front door and uses one of his keys to unlock the door. He finds a light switch and turns it on as he shuts the door behind him. He locks it and heads towards the kitchen, there was some of the fresh fruits and vegs that he bought from the market earlier today.

He finishes eating his supper, he sighs as his thoughts wonder about what kind of stuff he can decorate the house with. He blinks as he repeats that thought. _'What I want to decorate the house in. That's something I've never done before… Now I **own** a house, not renting it. I can't believe how things have changed since I met Shadow.'_ He closes his eyes and without knowing about it, he's fast asleep.

/----

He woke to find himself blinking from the lights that he left on. He grins sheepishly and looks outside to see if it's dawn, finding it isn't, he quickly heads out of the kitchens, turning off the lights as he goes. He unlocks the door, he makes sure he has money, and then steps out of the house. He locks the door and heads towards where the out door market is located.

After about an hour's walk, he makes it and buys some stuff for breakfast as well as has plans on having the rest for dinner tonight. He also makes note to buy a fridge today, along with some pots and pans. He makes it back to his house just as the sun rises up. He unlocks his door and walks into the house. He closes and locks the door then heads towards the kitchen. He eats his breakfast; he then decides to take a nap.

)-(Third Hokage)-(

He notices smoke rising up into the sky and for some odd reason, his heart plummets. He breaks into a run, moving surprisingly quickly despite the robe he's wearing. He notices a large group of people before Naruto's new house. He automatically does the hand seals for a jutsu that will knock out the whole crowd for a few hours.

He sails over one of the hedges that surrounds the property that Naruto now owns. He doesn't pause as he notices the raging fire, he moves into the flames without any concern for his safety. He covers the lower parts of his face as he moves through the main level of the building, hoping that Naruto's not on any other level. As he enters the kitchen, he's relieved to find the blond preteen laying on the ground.

He slings Naruto over his shoulder and then leaves the burning building behind him. He makes it outside and then begins to check and see if anything is wrong with the boy. He's relieved to find that Naruto's breathing, though shallowly. He sighs and then turns and studies the group before him. Instead of a look of righteous anger or disappointment, he's just sad and felt old. He puts names to faces and notices that a few members of the council had been part of this as well, which means that the council had been aware of this the whole time.

Even though the papers that Naruto gave him hinted that the council were beginning to move against Naruto, he hadn't expected it to be so soon. He then did a jutsu that will cause the ground to hold and hide the knocked out members of the highly organised mob. He didn't want anyone to come and take them away once he's gone. He turns to look at the burning house, then picks up the blond boy and heads to Kakashi's apartment, knowing that the jonin should be able to get Naruto the medical attention that he needed.

To be continued …


	15. Chapter 15

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 15

Both Sakura and him were waiting for Naruto and Kakashi for about an hour now. Both weren't really paying attention, for they were use to being bore out of their minds for about three hours, so he was stunned when their old teacher, Iruka, is standing before them and gained their attention by making a throaty noise.

Sakura asks, "What's wrong?" The chunin does look worried and says, "Something happened to Naruto, Kakashi asked me to inform you that you don't have to wait for him." He stiffens and demands, "What happened?" Iruka sighs and says, "A group of villagers and some ninja set fire to Naruto's house with him inside. The Third Hokage managed to save Naruto and is currently busy with the mob that had been watching the house burn down. Kakashi is busy making sure nobody tries anything against Naruto." He nods, dumbfounded that there were ninjas willing to help kill their team mate. His mind is reeling that most of what Naruto told him was reality for the blond.

Niether noticed that their old teacher had left, they were too busy trying to accept the fact that a mob consisting of villagers and ninja tried to off their team mate. After standing there dumbfounded, he begins to walk away, he didn't know where he was going just that he wanted to be alone.

)-(Shadow)-(

He moves through the dark areas of the village in hopes of encountering his friend and partner. They had arranged that it so that once Naruto finds a new apartment, that the blond would meet up with him and tell him where it's located. Because of this, he was beginning to get worried about the blond child.

A pair of passing villages passing him were exchanging news, the elder was speaking to the younger, "I can't believe Lord Hokage saved that demon from that burning house! He shouldn't have been allowed to live pass infancy. Now the Third is disbanding the council until further notice." He growls and steps out from his hiding place, furious that they were speaking ill of Naruto. The pair look stunned and froze, he soon kills the pair without any remorse.

He looks at where the hospital is located and knows that Naruto would have been taken there. _'It's time for us to leave.'_ Were his thoughts as he once more steps back into the shadows and waits for night to fall before making his move to retrieve his partner from the hospital.

)-(Kakashi)-(

Watching as the chest of the blond genin rise and fall were really the only sign that Naruto was alive. According to the staff, all the monitor machines were all being used and that they have none to spar. He didn't have much energy to argue, more worried about protecting Naruto then anything else. He was lucky that Iruka had been in for a visit with one of his students and he asked the chunin to find the members of his cell and tell them what happened and that there will be no missions today.

He can't believe how fragile the blond boy was as he watches the sleeping preteen. It truly was hard to connect the boy before him to the huge winged beast that the boy had transformed into during the battle with Orochimaru. "How is he doing?" The Third's voice asks softly from behind him. "His lungs are being repaired by the fox's charka; he had breathed quite a bit of smoke. Nothing else seems to be wrong." He answers without turning around.

Either of them spoke for a few minutes, each lost in their own little worlds until the Third Hokage breaks the silences hanging in the air. "I've disbanded the council until further notice. Those that were part of the mob are currently in custody and I have Ibiki interrogating them for more information concerning who's all part of the conspiracy and what their alternate plans are." Old man Sarutobi informs him. He looks over at the Hokage and can see beyond the Hokage get up to see the tired old man that's behind the title.

He looked over at Naruto and then back at the Third. "I might as well go grab something to eat." He says and gets up off the chair he's sitting on. The Third doesn't look his way as he leaves the room.

)-(Shadow)-(

Night has fallen about three hours ago. He's standing below the window where Naruto is resting. He opens up his back, his black wings stretch open and he activates his jets. He doesn't enter through the window where Naruto's resting, but through the wall below that room. He then bursts from the floor, scaring the two ninjas that were on guarding duty. He lands before Naruto's bed and takes away the blanket.

He has mixed feelings about the fact that Naruto isn't hooked up to any equipment. He opens up and the wires warp around Naruto's legs and then begin to pull the sleeping blond towards him. As the blond draws closer, more wires snake their way around the blond. Soon Naruto's within him and as he turns to jet out of the room; the two ninjas recover enough to attack him. He growls irritably as kunai clink off his body. He swats the one trying to attack him physically with his tail, sending that one into the other.

He faces the window and rams through the wall with no real problem. He ascends higher into the air as he flies off into the night with his friend and partner. Soon he makes it to the Liger Zero and fuses with it, sending Naruto into the cockpit without any trouble. Bonded to the Liger's core, he pilots the Zoid away from Hidden Leaf, heading north for now. Not caring about where they're headed as long as they get far away from Hidden Leaf.

)-(Sasuke)-(

It's been a whole year since that small, black dragon Zoid abducted Naruto and they have yet found any leads as to where either of them were. After about a month, most of the disbanded council had met in private and decided to have Naruto classified as an A ranked missingnin. Of course the Third and others disrupted the meeting and captured those that were participating in the illegal meeting. They were striped of their ranks and dishonoured, though some members of the village tried to defend their actions but they were silenced once the Third mentioned that they would share the same fate as the ex-council members.

Things settled down for about two months before some villagers hired missingnins to break the ex-council members out of the building that they had been imprisoned in. It was then that news that Naruto is the carrier of the nine tailed demon fox that attacked Hidden Leaf all those years ago leaked out to the younger generations.

Funny how none of the kids shared the same view of Naruto as their parents, it seems that the younger ones believed that if Naruto was truly the fox demon then Naruto would have destroyed Hidden Leaf once the blond was able to use charka. Some of the real young kids even thought it would be cool to have something that powerful inside them, to make them super strong, not that he blames them, he would give an arm or a leg for the privilege for it would help in his quest to kill his elder brother.

Sadly, once he researched the topic, it seems there's a reason why a new born is able to survive once the demon's seal within them, for adult's charka pathways were very much set and would break under the strain of having a demon sealed within them. For the infant's charka pathways weren't really formed and therefore can adapt to having demonic charka within them.

The chunin exams had been called off, surprisingly not by Hidden Leaf but by Hidden Sand, Hidden Rain, and Hidden Mist. It seems that every Hidden village is busy collecting Zoids as well as battling with them. He just can't keep the smirk off his face as he thinks about the kind of battles Shadow Fox and him have been in.

He just tones out the argument that Ino and Sakura are currently having as they walk through the village. Their mission was simple, deliver the message scroll to one Tsunade, who is one of the Legendary Sannin. He thought it was a piece of cake truth be told, that is until they learnt that nobody knows her current location and the reason why they received this was simple, most of the jonin were busy searching and piloting Zoids back to Hidden Leaf.

Also the existence of Zoids is now common knowledge for the last four months. How it happened was debatable and just down right confusing when he tries to think about it. All anyone will agree on was that a group of unknown Ninjas that were piloting two Lightning Saix and two Konig Zoids were chasing this white Liger Zoid. Two Sound nin pilots, three Earth nin pilots, one Mist nin pilot, six Zoids being piloted by non ninjas, and lastly two Leaf nin pilots. The Leaf ninjas' one of the Zoids that they were piloting had been a Gun Tiger and Sabre Tiger, the Sound's Zoids were Killer Dome and Hammer Rock, the Mist's Zoid was a Saicurtis, the Earth's Zoids were two Iron Kongs and Rev Raptor, and lastly the non-ninjas' Zoids were two Shield Ligers, Saberlion, Geno Saurer, Red Horn, and Command Wolf.

To say that is was a huge mess is an understatement, it was… it was… ok he didn't know what it was but he's kind of disappointed that he hadn't taken part in the disastrous battle that took place. He bet that he would have at least taken out the Red Horn within the first three minutes of the battle. Gallingly, it was the white Liger that came out of that battle with the least amount of damage. Nobody knew who had been piloting that Liger or any of the other four Zoids, though those that had been piloting the latter abandoned the Zoids soon after they had been disabled. Leaf claimed one of the Lightning Saixs though and the non-ninjas fought tooth and nail to keep their Zoids by banding together.

It was during them trying to clean up the aftermath of the battle did someone found the scene and then blabbed to people in the nearest town about what they saw. It didn't take long for the story to spread through gossip. He's not going to even think about some of the stories he heard, for there're pure fictional.

He snaps out of it at a sight of a casino. He motions for the two extremely annoying girls to quiet down. Once they had he then walks into the casino to ask if they know where Tsunade is, for it's his turn. He scuffs as he remembers the five other towns they stopped at in hopes of finding this 'Famous Sucker.'

)-(Naruto)-(

He shakes his head at the broken bodies of three members of the Akatsuki. The red chakra of the demon fox fades and he looks at where Shadow had been. He sighs in relief as he two blue glowing eyes appear from the shadows. He relaxes and Shadow growls, "The library isn't booby trapped." He nods and he's tired from the fight, killing never sat well with him, even if the Akatsuki wouldn't haste to kill those that get in their way. He's only lucky that he had more then a few tricks up his sleeve that the group didn't expect him to know, let alone perform.

'_I just hope we find what we're looking for. I hope that fur ball enjoyed that fight, for if things work out, it'll be the last time I'll ever need to kill someone.'_ He thinks as he follows his best friend and partner down the tunnel that leads to the library.

To be continued …


	16. Chapter 16

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 16

He can't believe that while they had spent two months searching for this old woman, she had arrived at Hidden Leaf about two weeks after they had left and nobody had been able to find them to inform them until yesterday. It was enough to make him wish he could find something to take his frustrations out on.

The only good thing right now was the fact that Ino and Sakura were quite since they received the scroll. He doubts that they have figured out that their pursuits him weren't winning any points with him, which after all this time seem really, really sad, even to him. They were also currently racing through the tree tops, him keeping his pace to match their slow one. He truly hates Kakashi for suggesting that Ino and Sakura should come with him for this simple delivery, he has long since figured out that Kakashi likes getting a rise out of him. He could have easily done without any company.

It was times like these that he wishes he had used Shadow Fox to travel around in. The very thought of the fox type Zoid, he smirks as he begins to day dream about the battles he was sure he'd win with the black Zoid. Though many of the villagers and ninja seem to disapprove of his choice of Zoid, it mostly had to with the simple fact that his Zoid is a fox type. Though he has seen other powerful Zoids, some perhaps even stronger then his Shadow Fox, he still remembers that the Shadow Fox choose him for his pilot and as odd as it sounds, he didn't want to betray his Zoid's trust in him. _'Besides, it's a challenge to win battles against those Zoids.'_ He thinks as he continues to day dream about what kind of plans he could employ to the known variety of Zoids.

/----

They decided to rest in the village that's about a day away from Hidden Leaf. As Ino and Sakura went off to shop, thus they were leaving him to choose a hotel for them to spend the night at. As he's walking through the village, he notices Lee jogging through the village. He calls out to the green clad ninja. "Lee." He says slightly louder then his norm. Lee pauses and looks surprised at seeing him. "Sasuke, you'll never believe what's happened!" The green ninja loudly proclaims once Lee is within four feet of him. "What?" He asks, hoping that Lee doesn't start on blabbing about 'flaming youth' and such.

"You're brother is dead as is his comrades!" Lee tells him. He zones out at that, not hearing the rest. It wasn't until an old man named Jiraiya that had shown up, just after something happened in Hidden Sand concerning a demon carrier, proclaiming that there's this organization called Akatsuki was trying to locate any and all demon carriers. It came as a surprise to find out that his elder brother was part of this group that contained A to S ranked missingnins. He hadn't heard much after that, though it seems that a cell was sent to check out Akatsuki while they were away.

"Are you certain that my brother's body is accounted for?" he asks suddenly. "Of course! He looked like an older version of you." Lee announces. He didn't really know what happened, but someone shouts out "Watch out!" And then he's world becomes black.

)-(Shadow)-(

It had taken them a good three days to find out as much as they can about the 'useless' dimensional gate that the previous generation of Akatsuki opened in hopes of letting demon's enter this world. That first gate that they had open didn't show results so they decided that it had been a waste of time and effort, they didn't see any reason to close it.

During the last year, Naruto took time to figure out how to alter his appearance just enough so it wouldn't be hard to maintain the look. Naruto had let his hair grow longer as well as has white streaks racing through it. Make up is used to hide the whisker like scars on each cheek. Instead of wearing his usual cloths that would not only make him stand out, but shout to anyone looking at him that he had connections to ninjas, so Naruto's stuck to wearing what most village teens usually wear.

"I guess he's not showing." Naruto says softly after waiting five hours for their informant. He doubts that the informant wanted to meet up with them once they killed off Akatsuki. "We should leave then." He growls to Naruto. Naruto nods and they get up off the ground, soon they walk off, heading back to where the white Liger is so they can head to where the dimensional gate is said to reside. He did wonder if what they're planning will actually work once they set up the jutsu.

"You think anyone's found the bodies yet?" Naruto asks as they walk through the clearing, towards Liger Zero. "It's been eight days since the fight." He growls. Naruto nods as the blond pauses and then looks around before beginning to climb up the closest forearm. He too scans the area for any life forms larger then a dog or wolf. Soon they're on their way towards the location of where the gate is suppose to be, him keeping pace with the large white Zoid as they go.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He wakes and stares at the ceiling above his head; he blinks a few times before he begins to remember what happened before he arrived here. He frowns and berates himself for letting his guard down. He sits up and looks around, only to find that he's alone within the room. He's not surprise to find himself in his underwear; it's something he knows will happen at some point when he's partnered up with either of his fan girls. He had been very annoyed about it, but he just sighed and never tried to confront them about it after the first three times.

At times like these made him wish feverously for the time before Naruto disappeared, he just knew that the blond would keep Sakura and anyone else from undressing him when he's out of it. Soon he finishes those thoughts as he puts on his shirt. He made sure that his bandages and kunai pouch weren't loose. He walks out of the room without making too much noise.

He pauses as just as he's about enter the dining room, he frowns as he listens to Ino and Sakura's course of action. He groans mentally and just leans on the back of a sturdy wall wondering what he did to deserve such a horrid life. _'What did I do? Drown puppies and kittens?'_ He thinks sceptically as he tries to wonder just when he began to fear girls.

)-(Naruto)-(

He frowns as he notices two Zoids coming towards him from his right. He pulls up the images of the pair and blinks as he notices how large one of the Zoids is. A huge green dino type Zoid with a pair of guns at the shoulders with a series of large spines. He has to admit that the Zoid is really impressive before turning to check out the other Zoid with it.

'_Gun Sniper, must be a range specialist.'_ He thinks as he notices the behaviour of the smaller Zoid compared to the green Zoid. He smiles slightly as he watches as the Gun Sniper finally splits up from larger Zoid. He slows up and turns to face the pair. "Shadow?" He asks. "Here." The black Organoid growls out, he nods and waits for either of the other Zoids to begin this battle.

He didn't have to wait long as the pair of guns on the green Zoid's shoulders fired a few blasts. He evades the blasts with ease and charges forward, he dodges gun shoots most likely sent from the Gun Sniper. The spine fan on the back of the large green Zoid moves forward as the Zoid bends into a bow, he blinks and soon lightning begins to play between the metal spikes. He curses as he makes the Liger jump backwards as the lightning strikes the spot he had been just a few minutes ago. The whole Zoid shakes as a shot hits the left hind leg.

He checks the diagnostic program to see what kind of damage has been done. He forces the Liger to move into some cover. He makes the Liger Zero go into a trot under the cover, always moving forward, though he tries not to move in a straight line. Dirt and rocks fly into the air as he moves, him evading as many shots as he can. He then brings up the map and checks out where the green Zoid is from his position. He frowns and begins to break cover, as soon as he's about twenty feet from where he had been hiding, he activates his boosters.

"Strike Laser Claw!" He shouts as the white Zoid leaps into the air. He moves along side the green Zoids left side, he lands and keeps moving so he doesn't get hit by Haku's attacks. _'One down and another to go.'_ He thinks with a grin as he moves in a zig zag pattern. He did have to wonder where Zabuza found that green Zoid though, but he shakes his head as he tries to focus at the task at hand.

If he remembers the last time they met up, which was about three months ago, he hard a harder time finding Haku then Zabuza. He just knows that Haku's learnt from his mistakes, but that only means he made new ones. He lets go of the controls for a minute to do a hand seal. Soon a water clone appears to his right. They split up to search for the ice user, keeping within a hundred feet of each other.

'_There!'_ He thinks as he launches himself into the air, activating the close combat weapon system. He hits the Rev Raptor and pins the red Zoid with the Liger's for paws. "Give in?" He asks smugly. Haku's beautiful face appears on screen and says calmly, "You've gotten better, Naruto." He grins and moves off the other Zoid. "So have you. So what brings our paths together?" He asks as the Rev Raptor gets up off the ground. "Tobi." Haku says simply. He sighs and turns away from the red Zoid. He leads Haku back to where Zabuza is most likely waiting.

It was Tobi that caused their first meeting three months ago and he has to wonder just what the older ninja's scheme is this time. They soon stop close to the green Zoid, he notices that Shadow is also waiting, which puzzles him. Once he gets out of the Liger Zero, Shadow opens his back and out comes the Organoid's black wings. Without a single growl or snarl, his friend and partner fuses with the Liger without him.

They all gasp as a flash of light occurs and they're pushed back. As they look at the Zoid, they find a large red energy structure surrounding where the Liger Zero had stood. "What was that and what's it doing to your Zoid?" Zabuza asks. He blinks owlishly at the older missing nin and though his mouth was moving, nothing was coming out.

)-(Shadow)-(

'_Finally, I was getting worried. Sorry about not warning you Naruto, but I think you'll like this once I'm finish.'_ He thinks before he begins to focus in on the core and begin to energize the changes of the evolving Zoid is going under. It'll take about a whole week, but it'll be worth it.

To be continued …


	17. Chapter 17

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 17

He walks through the village with a scowl on his face. Nobody has yet to give him a name on who could have massacred that gang of A and S rank missing nins and he's in a fowl mood. He was heading towards the shed where he kept Shadow Fox. He needed something to do and decided to take his Zoid out for a jog, for it's been a good three months since he last laid eyes on the black fox Zoid.

Some of his frustration seems to envelop at the thought of the fox type Zoid. It also reminded him of the blond carrier of the nine tailed fox, which just made him smile bitterly at the thought of his ex-team mate. Shaking his head in hopes of dismissing the blond phantom and focus on where would be a nice spot to take a jog at, especially with his Zoid.

He pauses as he notices Neji waiting for him by the shed. He gathers control over his expressions as well as making his face blank, he didn't know what it was about the Hyuuga genius that rubbed him the wrong way only that something about the Hyuuga that just stirred up something, perhaps a memory. Neji was awarded the right to pilot that Lightning Saix that Leaf claimed from that mess of a battle about four months ago, he had wondered if Neji had any problems with the feline Zoid.

"Hyuuga." He says and Neji replies, "Uchiha." He walks passed the other, not looking at the white eyed teen. He opens the side door, fully aware that the older ninja is standing behind him. He flips a light switch and notices that the Lightning Saix was also housed here. He tries his hardest not to alter his expression, knowing full well that Neji would notice the change in expression with a simple muscle movement.

He approaches his Zoid and begins to climb up along the leg and then the neck. He opens that cockpit and moves into it with as much grace he could muster. Soon the controls come alive and the shed doors open. He pauses as Neji's Zoid moves out of the line up of Zoids. Once Neji is finished walking through the open door in the cockpit of the Lightning Saix, he then moves forward in his Shadow Fox. He didn't glance around to see if the Lightning Saix is still around, he knows that Neji wants to test his skills as a pilot against his and he wouldn't mind seeing how well Neji can pilot his Zoid. A smirk crosses his face as the Shadow Fox enters into a trot.

/----

A slight jerk to the right and his Zoid leaps to the side as a series of shots land to his left. He activates the smoke screen and targets the Lightning Saix and fires of his gun, the rounds hit the feline Zoid and he watches as the Zoid charges towards him. He counters by using the Shadow Fox's Strike Laser Claw, the attack is blocked by the Lightning Siax's jaws grabbing hold of the upper part of the fore paw.

He smirks and activates the Vulcan gun, targeting the chest of the Lightning Saix. Four shots hit the Lightning Saix, causing the other Zoid to let go of his Zoid's arm. They battle it out, testing which of them has the better reflexes and timing. He knows he's winning, despite the fact that Neji is most likely using his bloodline limit.

He frowns as the fact that he has yet to activate his own bloodline limit; he mentally pushes those thoughts out of his head as he focuses in on the battle once more. If anything, the fact that he'll win this battle despite the fact that Neji's using his bloodline limit will make winning all the more sweeter. _'I wonder how I can rub this into his face after this.'_ He thinks as he manages to forces the larger Zoid back a few feet.

A picture of Neji appears on his screen and the older ninja seems pissed about something. "I think that's enough for now, Uchiha." Neji says in a polite tone. He just nods and the image vanishes, he moves away from the other and heads back to the shed, the taste of sweet victory spreading through his being. The adrenalin that had been present throughout the battle begins to ebb from his body, begins of exhaustion and a scents of peace enters in. He smiles tiredly as he pilots the Shadow Fox back to the shed; he'll have to check on the damages before heading home.

)-(Naruto)-(

He just sighs as he eats an apple; he stares at the large red crystal like structure that stands where the Liger Zero had been. He truly is at a lost at what Shadow's doing with the Liger Zero. He also didn't know if his explanation about what Shadow is helped explain anything about what's happening.

He also had to wonder if there weren't any other Organoids about, for he does remember that Ambient is still being held within Hidden Leaf. He seriously doubts that Ambient has been cooperating with any ninja living within those walls or that the red Organoid has escaped from the holding cell either. He looks thoughtful as he thinks about the other two Organoids that Shadow told him about. _'Zeke and Specular, the white and the blue dragon Organoids.'_ He thinks as he finishes off the last bit of the apple he was eating.

It's been about a day since Shadow fused with the Liger Zero and his beginning to wonder if Shadow might be evolving the liger type Zoid, for he does remember something similar happening when Shadow told her about Raven and the Geno Saurer and how the Zoid evolved into Geno Breaker. He sighs as another story about another liger type Zoid evolving into a Blade Liger. _'Wasn't that it a Shield Liger?'_ He wonders as he looks thoughtfully at the play of light and smoke that seems to be dancing around the red crystal.

"Impressive, though I do wonder how long it'll take until it's finished whatever it is that's happening within." Haku says softly and to his left. He looks startled as he looks over at the girlish looking boy. He smiles sheepishly at the other, Haku smiles understandably and he then replies, "True, if I remember rightly, it took about a week for a Shield Liger to evolve into a Blade Liger. I can't seem to remember how long it took for a Geno Saurer to evolve into a Geno Breaker though. Though logically, it must have been longer then a week, but less than two weeks. But the Liger Zero is stronger then a Geno Breaker and a Blade Liger so maybe three weeks." Haku looks towards the red crystal and says, "Hopefully we'll be safe until then." He just nods in agreement as he returns to watching the tail of smoke whirl around the red crystal.

'_I wonder if I can survive that long without Shadow to talk to and to be with.'_ He thinks as he pictures the black Organoid. A soft smile appears on his face as memories of Shadow play through his mind; his eyes gazed over as he loses himself within his mind.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He sighs as he examines the Shadow Fox, it's been four days since his spar with Neji and the damages were gone. It still amazes him that Zoids can actually repair themselves with little or no help from anybody. He also wonders if they grow the material to make the repairs. He does wonder just what kind of technology that allows machines to do self repairs without needing much in the way of raw material.

It takes him about an hour and a half to finish examining his Zoid to make sure that everything is within order. As he's coming out of the shed he finds Sakura racing towards him, he watches as Sakura slows and stops before him. "Sasuke, a lead to Naruto just arrived!" The pink haired teenage girl tells him. He shrugs and replies, "It's most likely just another false lead."

He walks pass the teenaged girl, who then falls in behind him. "It was Anko Mitarashi who reported the lead. It seems that there are two missing nins with him with Zoids. She also reported a large odd red crystal structure within the clearing where their camp is located." Sakura adds as she follows behind him, back towards the main part of town. He just grunts at that, soon toning out Sakura's voice as she begins to theorize reason why Naruto would be in the company of missing nins as well as what the red structure is.

He glares as Kakashi appears in a whirl of wind and leaves. "Yo." Kakashi says with a simple movement of his hand. "You're only an hour and half late!" Sakura says in amazement. The single eye seems to sparkle with amusement as their instructor says, "It seems that we've been chosen along with Neji, TenTen, and Kiba. We're also going to be traveling with Zoids, so what kind of shape is your Shadow Fox?" He replies, "It's fine and ready to go." Kakashi nods and says, "Go home and pack for we'll be meeting at the gates at noon." They nod and soon their teacher disappears in a whirl of wind and leaves.

They split up and head off in different directions. He sighs and doesn't see how this will be any different then the last five times leads have come in. Though this will be the first time he'll be piloting a Zoid during a mission, which causes him to smirk.

/----

His right eye twitches as he listens to Kiba's bragging, even if the other ninja is riding on Shadow Fox's neck with his dog, he can still hear the noise dog trainer from within the cockpit. He has to wonder how Shino could put up with the loud ninja and his dog, he doesn't know what he'd do if he was put on a team with someone similar to Kiba. He shudders at the very thought of someone just as loud as Kiba or louder on his team.

To his right is Neji's Lightning Saix and then to his left is a Red Horn with Kakashi piloting it. Kakashi doesn't have a usual Zoid like Neji and he did, so Kakashi had to borrow a Zoid from someone else. Kiba, Sakura, and TenTen have yet to be given lessons about how to pilot a Zoid, so Sakura and TenTen were riding with Kakashi as Kiba and his dog were holding onto the Shadow Fox's neck.

They've been traveling for three days and they were nearing the spot where they're going to find Naruto and this large red crystal that had been reported. He can't believe how much ground they covered even with the heavy and often slow Red Horn slowing them up. TenTen and Sakura were riding with Kakashi, so they didn't have to worry about anyone other then Kiba and Akamaru falling off one of the Zoids.

Personally, he's curious as to just what Anko found at the location. He's wonders are cut short as his scanner beeps. Something hits the ground before his Zoid just as the map appears to his left. He hears Kiba curse as he moves the Shadow Fox out of the line of fire, Neji rushes forward in the Lightning Saix. He curses silently at who ever is firing on them, a shot hits the Lightning Saix in the right fore arm which makes it impossible for Neji to use the full potential of the Lightning Saix's speed and agility.

An image appears on his screen, the person is currently wearing a simple mask with they symbol of Hidden Mist on the forehead of the ivory white mask with a small image of a red whirl where the mouth and chin were. "Please turn back; we don't need to fight a scentless battle." The person says calm. He blinks, but before either Neji or him replied Kakashi answers equally calmly, "We're currently looking for a kidnapped blond Leaf ninja named Naruto. We've been told that he's somewhere located around here." He blinks and then waits for the masked nin to answer.

To be continued …


	18. Chapter 18

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 18

He just throws his hands up and sighs as he turns away from the smirking elder ninja. _'How can someone CHEAT at War?'_ He thinks as he shakes his head and crosses his arms over his chest before turning to face the missing Mist nin. He glares at the smirking jonin as the other begins to shuffle the cards. He walks back and sits down at the table.

"Is there anything you can't win at?" He asks Zabuza. Soon the cards are dealt and he picks up his stack. "In any card games or in any gambling games?" The jonin asks. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head as he flips the first card off his stack onto the tree stump. After a few minutes, he asks, "Shouldn't Haku be back by now?" Zabuza pauses as he picks up the cards off the stump. The assassin's eyes seek out his huge sword and though he can't tell through the bandages that cover Zabuza's lower part of his face, he figures that the older ninja is frowning.

He sits back and watches as Zabuza gets up and walks toward the Dark Spiner. In a whirl of wind and water, Zabuza teleports onto the head of the green Zoid and soon enters the cockpit. Once the green Zoid leaves in search for Haku, he picks up the cards that belong to Zabuza and begins to study them to find out the secret trick that allows the Mist ninja to cheat in their every game of cards they have played as they wait for Tobi and for his Zoid to finish evolving so he can finally have his friend back.

)-(Sasuke)-(

They were in a kind of stand off, for they can't seem to figure out where the other is and their enemy seems reluctant to engage them in battle. He didn't know what's worst, that they can't move from their spot or that this ninja isn't taking them seriously. He scowls as he keeps going through his map in hopes of finding a likely spot where the masked ninja would hide, he hadn't had much luck and he tries to ignore Kiba's attempts of reasoning with Kakashi about letting Kiba and Akamaru scout around.

Then his Zoid picks up another signal as another Zoid enters the area. He closes his eyes and wonders what to make of this. He opens his eyes and watches as an image of a man with bandages wrapped around parts of his head appear on screen. "Well, well, well. It seems that we got ourselves some Leaf brats." The man says as an image of a reptilian-like Zoid appears before them.

"Zabuza, if I'm correct." Kakashi replies. "And you must be Kakashi, the Copy Cat Ninja." The man now identified as Zabuza says. He groans and says, "Look, we're just looking for a blond named Naruto. Once we get the idiot, we'll leave." Zabuza laughs at that and says, "So what? I'm bored and it seems to be even enough, two vs two." "So the other ninja is with you?" Neji demands. The bandaged man seems to smirk before the com is closed.

Soon there's gun fire and he's busy manoeuvring around so he doesn't get hit. Kiba and his dog were off of the Shadow Fox's neck. He wonders absently just what the pair is doing, but those thoughts are pushed aside as he begins to think up a battle plan. He activates his smoke screen and leaves Kakashi to fight against the large green Zoid.

/----

He grunts as he falls to the ground. He shakes his head and looks to find the other is also out of his Zoid. He turns and examines the Shadow Fox. He sighs for the two Zoids are currently in an embraces, the jaws of the gun Zoid biting down on his Shadow Fox's neck and the Shadow Fox is currently biting on one of the legs.

He then begins to study the battle ground before the masked ninja says, "You are good, though I doubt you would stand a chance against a certain friend of mine." He studies the other and decides to take that as a compliment. "You're pretty good yourself; it's been a while since I fought a battle that ended in a draw." He says and it's very true.

He shifts his weight, not knowing what to do next. To his infinite relief, Kiba and Akamaru appeared. "Geeze Sasuke, I thought you were a pro." The loud mouth dog trainer says. He shrugs and then watches as Kiba rounds on the guy with the mask. He automatically tones out Kiba shouting at the possible hunter nin. He's busy replaying the battle over in his head, trying to think of what he could have done that would have made it a win for him.

He sighs as he concludes that the masked ninja seems to be equal to him in skill. He wonders if he'd win a fight with the other without using a Zoid, but decides to wait until he's rested to ask for a spar. He blinks and looks over at the 'path' that the battle created, he watches as the large green Zoid, then the Lightning Saix, and finally the Red Horn coming towards them. "Well, it seems that our students are of equal prowess, Kakashi." Zabuza's voice sounds out through out the clearing. "So it would seem." Is Kakashi's reply, in a dry tone. He wonders just what's going to happen next.

)-(Naruto)-(

He chuckles as he finally cracks the secret to the card deck. He then puts the cards back on the table as he hums. He glances at the huge sword, but isn't tempted to see if he could lift it up, let alone swing it. He checks the time and heads off to the river to get more water for his bottle.

He almost ended up in the river once a sheet of ice appeared to his left. "What's wrong now?" He asks once Haku steps out of the mirror like sheet of ice. "It seems that Leaf ninjas have discovered that you're in the area." The ever polite older ninja tells him. He blinks and stands. _'Am I dreaming?'_ He thinks to himself and blinks a few times and sighs.

"Did you get names?" He asks, not sure if he wants to know. "The jonin is one Kakashi, Neji, TenTen, Kiba, Kiba's dog Akamaru, Sakura, and Sasuke." Haku tells him. He closes his eyes and wonders just what to do now. "I don't suppose you have any suggestions on what to do?" He asks weakly. Haku smiles and begins to explain what Zabuza and him had planned if this ever happened.

/----

His eyes open and he feels something drawing him some where. His body feels stiff, but it appears that they hadn't found the hiding place where Haku had then used a hibernation jutsu. It had worked, for the spot seems untouched. He slowly sits up, he's a bit dizzy but it disappears within two minutes. He then slowly pulls himself up and crawls out of the small cave between a tree's large roots.

He shivers slightly as he feels the chilling air flow over him. He sits and rubs his arms a bit. Once he feels a bit more awake, he stands up and the moves softly through the mixture of tree and rock. He notices that it's a new moon, he smiles slightly as he pauses to look at the starry sky. He grins and sighs. _'What a perfect night for the crystal to hatch. I wonder what kind of Zoid will come out of at crystal. I do know that it'll not be a canine type.'_ He thinks to himself as he continues to gaze up into the night sky.

Soon enough, he returns to the matter at hand and continues on his way towards the camp. He's surprise to find that they had moved slightly away from the original campsite, but decides that it's for the best. He heads northeast until he reaches the original site, taking only fifteen minutes. He studies the huge red crystal. Within the three minutes of him standing there studying the crystal, the barrier flashes dimly which reveals the newly evolved Liger.

He blinks as he studies the Zoid. The Zoid's coloring is no longer white and black, but bluish grey and black. The cockpit glass is blue. The Zoid grew two meters in height as well as in length. The teeth and claws were no longer dirty gold, but orangey kind of yellow. On the back were a pair of blades with the left blade over the right and at the sides, folded upwards, were another pair of blades. The blades were white in color.

He sighs as he takes note of the longer fangs that were protruding out of the mouth. The head of this Zoid is similar to that of Liger Zero, but with a more refined muzzle. He notices the 'wings' on the tail tip and sighs. All in all, you could tell it was related to the Liger Zero but there were enough differences to show that it's its own model.

The Zoid lies down and opens the cockpit. He climbs in and as the Zoid stands upright, a group arrives at a run into the clearing. The Rogue Liger roars and he directs the Zoid north. He knows that Haku and Zabuza can handle things just fine without him, plus he didn't want to face anyone from Leaf. He wasn't going back to the village, he has a dream to fulfill and he plans on making that dream his reality as soon as possible.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He glares at the Zoid as it heads north, as one, Neji and him turn and sprint back to the campsite to get their Zoids in order to catch up to that feline type Zoid. He ignores Sakura asking where's he's going, more focused on finding out just what's up with that Zoid and who's its pilot.

It doesn't take him long to climb into the cockpit of the Shadow Fox, he had focused some chakra into his legs before leaping off the ground and onto his Zoid. Soon the controls are active and he takes off north at a trot, the Lightning Saix over takes him within two minutes, much to his chain grin.

They passed the others, picking up speed once they left the clearing. It takes them about twenty minutes to get the feline Zoid in their sights. He activates his gun and shots off a warning shot at the blade Zoid. He blinks as the Zoid moves with better agility then he expected as the shot hit the ground about ten feet from the right side of the Zoid.

Neji then tried to get the pilot to surrender, that got no response what so ever. Neji moves to the guy's left as and tries to force the blade Zoid towards the right, but the guy wouldn't have it and the left top blade came slashing down, forcing Neji to distances himself from the Zoid. The blade returns to its rightful place and the Zoid picks up speed.

He growls and fires off a few more shots in hopes of at least forcing the Zoid to slow up. The Zoid before him roars out in displeasure and turns to face Neji and him. He smirks but that doesn't last long as a shot if fired from the alien Zoid. He was able to move out of the path out of his reflects, he notices the Shock Cannon that were located around the chest area.

'_Only Ligers have a Shock Cannon. So what kind of Liger is this?'_ He thinks as Neji begins to engage in physical combat with the Liger. He would try to get a few shots in, but mostly he just kept out of the way, as much as he hated this, he hoped that if whoever's within the Zoid would tire after fighting Neji. He also can learn more by watching them fight.

To Readers:

I would like to thank Ant Crown for helping me come up with Liger Zero's evolved form, Rogue Liger. And those of you who are Zabuza and Haku fans also own their appearance in this story to Ant Crown as well. I also would like to thank everyone who's read this story and a special thanks to those of you who've reviewed too. I hope that you continue to enjoy this story until the very end.

To be continued …


	19. Chapter 19

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

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Chapter 19

He is getting pissed off with the both of them. He needed to find a safe place where Shadow could defuse from the Rogue Liger, he growls and decides to end this and hopes that whoever's within the canine Zoid won't chase him when he's through with the Lightning Saix. He activates all four blades once he puts some distance between his opponent and himself.

He notices that the other pilot also seems to be thinking about something. He charges, the other tires to leap out of the way of the blades, but he leaps up, cutting off the right leg of the Lightning Saix. He continues running once he lands, his blades returning to their pervious positions.

"Idiots." He says, frowning at the fact that he might not put enough ground between himself and the Leaf ninjas; he refuses to think of them as friends or allies. A painful growl erupts from the Zoid, he says, "Just a bit, Shadow. Then you can rest, I promise." He smiles softly as he continue directing the Liger.

/----

He blinks worriedly at the prone figure of Shadow. He's worried about his friend, they've been resting for about a week now and Shadow has regained a bit of his strength, just not much. He has tried a lot of things, but they haven't worked too well. He mentally curses the two Leaf nins that had pursued him that night.

'_If we didn't fight them, Shadow wouldn't have been that exhausted. Damn them, I hope that Zoid's taking a long time to recover.'_ He thinks grimly. He sighs and looks out of the cave. He had used that modified house jutsu to hide Rogue Liger; he just hopes that there weren't any curious kids around to check out the 'haunted' house.

He leans on the wall of the cave, yawning. He hadn't had much sleep over the week; he's been so worried about Shadow that he couldn't sleep for long before some kind of nightmare caused him to wake. He bites back another yawn. He just feels so useless and he doesn't like that feeling, for it reminds him of all of the other beatings he experienced when he was younger, before he met Shadow.

He must have started to doze off, for when Shadow growled out as the Organoid tried to move, he felt sluggish as he moved to Shadow's side. "Don't try to move, ok? I'm going to try something." He tells his friend softly. Shadow growls in acknowledgement and he focused some chakra into his hands. He then placed his hands on Shadow, slowly his hands glowed blue and then after about three minutes, so did Shadow.

After ten minutes, he stopped feeding chakra into his best friend and watches as the blue chakra encases the black Organoid for about another four minutes, then it fades. He sighs in relief as his friend and partner moves without any problems. "If I'd know that would have done the trick, I would have done that before now." He says, semi annoyed about how easy that had been and just plain relieved to have his friend returned to normal. "Agreed." Shadow growls and then adds, "Get some sleep, you look like you need it." He smiles tiredly and nods. "I'll do that." He says and lies on the ground where Shadow had been resting on. It didn't take long before he was sound asleep.

)-(Shadow)-(

Once the blond teen is sleeping, he scans the current area to find out if they were the only ones around with a Zoid. He found Rogue Liger with ease as well as about five other Zoids; two headed east, one southeast, one west, and the last one straight north.

His systems finish running a check and found that he's fully functional and his energy levels were better then ever. He lets out of soft growl as he knows that with this power boost he received, he'll be able to bond to the evolved Liger for a good two minutes, better then the five seconds he had before. He would have detached himself from Rogue Liger if they hadn't been trying to out run the pair of ninjas.

He would have flinched if he could as he remembers another instance of when he had been bonded to a powerful Zoid longer then he should have. He decides that it's his connection to Naruto's mind that kept a repeat of that occurring. _'Or if might be that the Fox just didn't want me to be destroyed so easily.'_ He muses as he stands guard over his sleeping friend and partner.

He also has to wonder just how much of him has undergone alterations since he's been with Naruto. He definitely knows that it's not natural for him to use that energy that these ninjas use. He also has to wonder just when Naruto and him became mind linked. A really odd thought brought itself forward.

'_Could he be? But I thought that the only survivors were Hiltz, Fiona, and Reese.'_ He ponders to himself. _'But then, a great deal of these Zoids are as new to me as they are to the ninjas, perhaps from my current future? If so, then a relative of Naruto's could have crossed over, the gate's been open for about forty or thirty years. He did understand me on the first encounter between us, unlike most non Zoidians.'_ He turns and studies the blond on the ground, wondering if, perhaps, his musings were acute. Neither of them knows the names of Naruto's parents, for it seems that nobody felt like the blond needed to know about his parents or any other relatives that he might have. In the end, they most likely will never know their names, let alone any clan history that the clan might have had about birth records.

)-(Naruto)-(

He observed his friend and partner; he's kind of worried about the black Organiod. Shadow has been quiet, a bit too quiet considering that they usual chat about what kind of defences that might be erected around the portal by Stone Ninjas in Earth Country. It's been about three days of slow going since he healed Shadow and they have only spoken much during those days and he has to wonder just what's on Shadow's mind that the black dragon seems so distant.

They were getting close to the boarder and they haven't had any major run inns with people piloting Zoids or ninjas. He only hopes that luck continues to be on their side once they cross every boarder until they make it into Earth Country. He snorts and muses in his own thoughts as he continues to pilot the Rogue Liger. _'I doubt we'll have that kind of luck.'_

The mist isn't interfering with his scanners, so they did have a worry too much about enemies using the mist to their advantage to attack them. It's happened before, groups of ninja have attempted to ambush Zoids and try and get rid of their pilots so that they could claim the Zoid as their own. Shadow and him were familiar with that, for quite a few had even had the nerve to try and steal Shadow during the night.

They had seen something they shouldn't and he had to silence them the only way possible. He shakes his head, dismissing those thoughts from his mind. He had other things to worry about then what has happened in the past and he has much to think about as he journeys towards his dream and, hopefully, his future.

)-(Sasuke)-(

Zabuza and Haku had helped reattach the leg to the Lightning Saix. They didn't both trying to track the Zoid, for it seems that whoever the pilot was, they were good enough to get that kind of hit on a Zoid being piloted by someone using their bloodline limit while fighting two Zoids at once.

They hadn't really got anything out of the pair of missing nins and they just weren't going to push it considering that they didn't feel up to engaging in a scentless battle over what they kept from them. For the pair of missing nins don't have any obligations to them and could have easily just left without helping them with the Lightning Saix.

Though they're parting words pretty much revealed that they knew who had been piloting that odd blade Liger. "You ever think that he's been burnt enough?" Those simple words had been Zabuza's parting words. The hint made it clear who they had come searching for and who they had lost to.

'_Naruto.'_ Was a name that always seems to stir mixed feeling within him. It would seem that sometime after he had been kidnapped, he found a Zoid and had learnt how to pilot it. He sighs as he lies on his bed, thinking about quite a few things, mostly about that small black dragon Zoid that had kidnapped Naruto. It brought to mind another small dragon Zoid, a red one that lead to him finding about Zoids.

That one was still being kept in a cell; they had once tried to knock the red dragon out so they could take it apart to find out how it fuses with a Zoid. Especially how it increases the strength of the Zoid it bonds with. That one had a mean streak as well as being a bit sadistic in nature as the dragon had acted like it was out and then waited until they had carried it out of the cell and into that room.

The group that had been chosen to examine that small Zoid had all been injured as it had attempted to escape; three of them lost a limb to it while the others still have the scars inflicted by those tail spikes. They never attempted to take the Zoid out of the cell since and few visit it as well. For the only reason they even keep imprisoned was that they believe it would attempt to steal another Zoid. They also don't know how to kill it too, so they just try their best to not think about what kind of possibilities that small Zoid is capable of for it would only make them bitter about the whole situation.

'_Maybe I should pay it a visit.'_ He thinks as he stares up into the ceiling of his room, looking for answers. He tries very hard not to think about the simple fact that someone killed his only reason to grow stronger and main reason to live.

He frowns as he tries to steer his thoughts away from THAT. He truly doesn't want to think about how it wasn't him that killed his elder brother to avenge his dead parents and clan. He doesn't want to think about how much stronger that single person had been to be able to kill off so many A class and S class missing nins without keeling over in exhaustion or from the injuries that they must have received from the fighting they had done.

He unclenches his left fist, taking deep and slow breaths as he tries to relax his muscles. He thinks of his Zoid, the Shadow Fox and about his favourite food and drink, deciding that he'll treat himself for supper. Of course he'll make sure that neither Ino or Sakura get wind of his plans to eat out, he was certain that the pair had long since decided to share him between them, making it a threesome, except that he doesn't want anything to do with any girls that he's met so far.

He rolls onto his right side and then onto his butt. He then stands up and walks towards his dresser. He pulls out a blue shirt and black pair of shorts. Once he's finish getting dressed, he heads out of his apartment. When he was younger, he had wanted to continue living at his family's house. The Third hadn't thought that was a good idea and had agreed to give him his own apartment, since he had refused to live with a foster family. It had been a compromise between them; he never once regretted keeping his side of the agreement, for deep down he knew he'd go mad after a month of being forced to live with a foster family or if he had continued to live at the murder scene of where his parents were killed.

He looks over at his team's photo. He stares at the blond standing to his right. His eyes gaze over as he remembers that day; he shakes himself out of it and turns away. He had things to do and places to visit. He finishes grabbing his kunai pouch, belt, and scroll pouch. Once everything was where it should be, he walks out the door. He locks the door and then heads out of the building, walking towards the hanger where that small red dragon Zoid is being kept.

To be continued …


	20. Chapter 20

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 20

He didn't have any trouble getting into the hanger; most were going about their business and not really caring as to his reason of being here. It didn't take long before he's before the cell that belongs to the small red Zoid. The Zoid is simply curled up and staring out of the cell.

He shivered slightly as he stared into those inhuman eyes. He didn't know what creeper that they didn't blink or that he couldn't read any emotion within them. He didn't know if he should talk with the small odd Zoid, for how did he know that this one might not do something desperate like try and ram the bars to attack him. He doesn't know how strong the odd red Zoid is, but he figures that it's better to be wary and not to underestimate the small Zoid.

He leans on the wall behind him, having moved away from the cage as much as he can without knowing that he was doing it. He stiffens as he notices how cold the wall behind him is. Then he shivers for a whole different reason as he tries not to fidget too much as his shoulders and upper back begins to cool off from the contact with the cold wall. He finally decides to either leave or to talk with the red dragon Zoid in hopes of getting some kind of reaction to see if said red dragon knows said black dragon.

He took a deep calming breath and stares into the red dragon Zoid's eyes as he begins, "You're not the only one of your kind it would seem. We've spotted a black one like you. He took off with one of our ninjas about a year ago." He watches as the small Zoid growls softly, he waits for the red dragon to do more, but it soon stops growling so he continues. "The black one's front opened up and the wires dragged the ninja's helpless body into its self. Then that one jetted out of the window. I don't suppose you know why the black one took that kid?"

He stiffens as the red Zoid gets up off the ground and begins to study him with interest. He tries to keep his face calm even though his insides were busy cringing and rolling around within him. He didn't like how the Zoid was eyeing him like he was an object, some tool that suddenly was looking promising. It reminded him of his elder brother, that night when his brother killed his clan and then used his new eyes on him, to make him relive the massacre that he hadn't been there to witness personally.

He's snapped out of those thoughts as something hums from the direction of the small red Zoid. He feels cold inside as the odd Zoid launches itself into the air and through the top of the cage. He coughs and covers his face as the dust floats within the air. He hears a crashing sound once more and he opens his eyes to find the red Zoid standing before him. He tries to yell out as the front of the Zoid opens and wires begin to wrap around him and pull him into itself.

He didn't know what to expect, but he didn't expect to find himself receiving information within the body of the Organoid. _'That's what he is, not a Zoid but something more. They bring out the potential of the Zoid in different ways. Shadow can evolve a Zoid as well as repair it as well. Ambient can't evolve a Zoid, but can make it grow large as well as repair.'_ Then something new filtered into his thoughts. A picture of a different world, a place where Zoids and Organoids originate from and are native to a world called. _'Planet Zi.'_

Soon he's dropped to the floor and he just blinks as he takes a look at his surroundings. "We will find Shadow and I will show him he's not the only one who can find a suitable partner on this world." Ambient growls out as the red Organoid studies the cell from the outside. He blinks in surprise at being able to understand said growls as if they were words. He wonders just what he's gotten himself into as of now.

/----

He didn't know how he explained what it felt like to be bonded with Ambient, but he was sure that more then one person thought he was under some kind of mind control. It didn't help that Ambient seemed to enjoy growling out things as someone is talking. It really must have freaked out a few of them when he began to argue with Ambient. Especially when they didn't know what the red Organoid was saying and, to them, they only heard growls and snarls from the dragon Organoid.

He wondered if Naruto got the same reaction when anyone found him chatting with Shadow, the black Organoid that kidnapped him. _'Or they make sure they were never caught. Ambient mentioned that Shadow had been here before he had, so does this mean that Naruto knew about Zoids before everyone within the village? How would Shadow hide?'_ Were usually where his thoughts headed during the last four days. He did know that Kakashi believed him when he said that Ambient can project things through his growls and snarls.

The medic nins founded a part of his brain begin active, they figured that somehow, Ambient stimulated that part of his brain during the time he was within the red Organoid. They have yet to decide whether that it'll be harmful in the long run of having that part of his brain active through the 'forced' stimulation that Ambient provided.

He glances around at the scroll that they brought in from the hide out that once belonged to that group his brother belonged to. They hoped to find what interested the killer enough to take on the whole group within a single day. He sighs and does his best to ignore Ambient, for it seems that the red Organoid knows just what buttons to push to get the deserved reaction out of him.

He tries to shake Ambient from his thoughts and focus on reading what's in his hand. He had volunteered to help out, most of the younger ninjas weren't aloud to read certain scrolls, they were mostly technique scrolls and most likely to be forbidden types to boot.

He could see out of the corner of his eye Ambient moving around the room, scaring Hinata more often then not. He did have to wonder how could Hinata be so nervous and shy while Neji was bold and prideful, they were from the same clan, though Hinata is the eldest daughter of the clan head while Neji is a member of the branch side of the clan. They should have been raised the same way, right?

He once more attempted to focus in on the scroll in his hand, determined to read it as well as a few others. He did have to wonder why there were scrolls on dimensional travel though. He snorts softly at mention of some open gate somewhere in Earth Country. _'As if, we would have heard about it by now.'_ Were his thoughts on the matter.

)-(Naruto)-(

He glares at the patrol camping just a few miles away. He closes the scoop and pocket's it. He's in a bad mood, first of all, Shadow has yet to tell him why he's so distant, another is that they keep on running into patrols, not just Stone nin ones, but for some freaky reason, Sound nin ones too. He was getting close to the boarder of Earth Country and his patience is wearing thin.

He turns away and checks on his dinner. He'll have to wait until they're moved on before attempting to travel through that valley. _'All this sneaking around is time consuming. But I also don't to alert anyone to where I'm headed.'_ He thinks, calming a bit of his restlessness.

He takes a side glance at Shadow; the black Organoid is currently staring up into Rogue Liger's face. He turns away and stirs the pot. He almost missed the soft rumble coming from Shadow's direction. He turns and replies, "What's a Zoidian?" Shadow turns and growls softly, "A race of people who tended to be bonded with Organoids. The majority of them were wiped out by a Zoid called Deathsaurer. A few escaped as well as their Organoids, not a great deal of them, about a handful."

He looks thoughtful as he thinks about this. "So what do Zoidians have to do with anything then? Or are you remembering an old partner?" He asks in a softlya d gentle tone. Shadow made the equivalent of a snort and answers, "I've been thinking that someone within your family might have been a Zoidian. That gate, it's not just reaching within my time, but also the future and past. It wouldn't impossible for a Zoidian to slip through the gate and adapt to this culture." He blinks in surprise, his mouth open as well. He didn't know what to say to that, but it did relieve him that Shadow wasn't angry about anything he did or didn't do.

He just grins and returns to his stew, in a better mood then he had been just minutes before. Though that brought up another sore topic, his blood family, in a way, he just didn't get why nobody, not even the Third, had been willing to diverge that information when he had asked. Family is important not only to citizens as well as only to ninjas as well. It hurt to know that the man he came to consider a grandfather hadn't told him about either of his parents; he kind of figured out a while ago that his clan name isn't his true last name. He snorts mentally and turns away from the subject, knowing that he'll most likely never get any answers about his family, especially when he leaves this world.

'_Maybe I should change my name once we land on Zi.'_ He muses as he picks up his bowl and fills with the stew he had going. He nods as he thinks about the idea a bit more. Now he just needed to come up with a new name and maybe history to go along with it. He'll talk it over with Shadow later, for now; he just wants to enjoy his supper without too much bother.

)-(Shadow)-(

He hadn't known that Naruto was that worried about him as he watches the blond eat his stew. He had noticed that his blond partner and friend had been growing impatient with all this sneaking, it most likely hadn't helped that he had been keeping to himself most of the time either. It stirred his emotions at the fact that Naruto truly worried about him in other ways that weren't physical.

He knows that he can't always be there for the blond, but right now, he was determined for he's all that Naruto has at the moment. While the Rogue Liger can feel and, at times react, to Naruto's emotions, the Zoid couldn't interact with Naruto in the way he can. He was kind of glad for that, for it meant that he didn't have competition for Naruto in that way. He knows that Naruto will need to make friends with other humans and he truly will encourage that, for humans are social beings, even if a few try and deny that.

Pictures of little kids playing in a school yard played within his mind. He wondered what kind of woman Naruto will marry when he's old enough. He gets the feeling that Naruto would most likely prefer a large family once he settles down, the fact that the blond never got to hear anything about his parents and such will also mean that Naruto will try to be the best father he could be, something that reminds him of Raven when Reece accepted Raven's ring.

He would smile if he could as he thinks more about Raven's life once he and Reece had been wed. He did wonder if any of Raven's blood is still around, he hopes so. Raven wasn't an evil guy, just didn't get a chance to define himself until his teens and by the time they finally defeated the Deathsaurer.

To be continued …


	21. Chapter 21

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 21

He watches as Naruto sleeps. It's getting close to dawn and that patrol has yet to move. He is worried, for he doubts that Naruto will be pleased about that, truth be told, he was worried about it as well. It also made him wonder why there were Sound ninjas along the way as well as Stone ninjas. _'Is there a war going on and someone forgot to inform us?'_ He muses as he considered that possibility.

He decides to scout out the patrol on his own, he figured he'd let Naruto sleep. He didn't see any harm in waking the blond only to have him worry about whether the patrol is going to leave soon or if they had to go through them. He also wouldn't try and talk Naruto out of that course of action. He was just as tired of sneaking around as Naruto is.

)-(Naruto)-(

He shots up and knocked his head against something also hard. "Ow!" Two voices say at the same time. He rubs the top of his head as he notices Tobi doing the same. He blinks and his already defensive, for he didn't know if Tobi has noticed Shadow or not.

"You have a hard head." A cheerful voice of Tobi states as he gets his sleeping bed off of him. "You too, if it helps." He replies and as he sits cross legged, waiting for Tobi to beat around the bush. "Either you or Zabuza and Haku waited for me at the meeting spot." Tobi pouted. "Leaf nins found out that I was in the area, plans changed." He replies. "Also, my Zoid was undergoing an evolution." He adds simply waving his hand towards Rogue Liger.

Tobi shrugs and sits down dramatically. "And here I've been doing some acutual work. It's not easy to get close to Orochimaru you know." Tobi says as he sighs and shakes his head. He perks at the mention of that snake ninja. "He's leader of Sound, right? Why would you want to kill him? I got all of the Akatsuki, other then you." He says, interested in Tobi's answer. "And you made me proud. Orochimaru use to be a member, he left the group before you were ten. He still has his ring." Tobi tells him.

He blinks in surprise, he hadn't known that fact. Though it did make some sick scents, like how that snake nin knew that he healed quickly and that he had a huge amount of chakra, larger then humanly possible it seems at times. He shivered as he remembered that encounter, especially the part where he transformed into something beast like. He shakes his head in attempt to get the memory of how powerful certain emotions had been during that time as the winged beast.

"What does this have to do with Zabuza, Haku, and myself?" He asks curiously. Tobi sighs loudly before answering, "Orochimaru has read the same scrolls as you have about that one gate. He knows where to find it as well. That's why he's getting ready to go to war with Hidden Stone. It should be beginning within the next few days." He straightens at that. _'So that's why there have been so many patrols! Now it's a race.'_ He thinks as he watches as the masked ninja get up and starts making breakfast. He wondered if the other two were on their way here as well.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He could feel Ambient behind him as he stood at attention before the Fifth. He still wonders why the so-called Legendary Sucker has been made Hokage, he still hasn't gotten over the simple fact that he spent a great deal of time with Ino and Sakura, searching for the woman before him, sitting behind the desk before him.

It mostly didn't help that he was standing between Ino and Sakura either. Add the fact that Ambient is still making snipe comments, things were adding up to equal a bad day for him. He did wonder why most of the rookies and Gai's team were here though. Out of the corner of his eye, he spies Chouji and Shikamaru, who had been close to Naruto before he was kidnapped by the black Organoid called Shadow.

Finally Tsunade begins the meeting, after making them wait for about three minutes. "All of you are here for a risky mission. According to our resources, Sound and Stone are about to go to war with each other. We believe that it'll begin soon, possibly tomorrow for all we know." Tsunade says, he wonders what could cause those two villages to fight, especially considering the fact that Sound is a young and relatively new village.

'_More importantly, why does it matter to us in Leaf? So what if two villages want to fight, it wouldn't affect us much. Besides, Stone will most likely crush Sound without any help from any of the other villages. So what's so important that we've been summoned?'_ He thinks privately, guessing that similar thoughts were running through the other's minds as well.

Tsunade continues, "We want to know what's so important to Sound that lies within Earth Country that Orochimaru is willing to make war on one of the major villages." He perks up at the mention of Earth Country; he did read something concerning something being created there, but he just can't remember just what it was. He didn't have time to ponder that as Tsunade continues to address them.

He tried to focus in on the monolog but his attention wavered. An image of that Liger that's most likely piloted by Naruto, his ex-team mate. The thought of those four blades were so very different from those of the Blade Ligers he's seen. He goes over the memories of how Naruto cut off that leg that belongs to Neji's Lightning Saix. He can't believe how powerful that new Liger Zoid is and he was eager to match his piloting skills with those belonging to Naruto.

He's snapped out of his musings as the Fifth dismisses them. He follows Kiba out of the office with his two major fan girls following behind him. Once they left the building, the group begins to chat about the mission details. He catches up on what the mission is and what their part is in the over all plan. It seems that the first part of the mission entitles them to travel with a much larger group consisting of Jonin piloting Zoids. Neji and him were also going to be piloting their own Zoids for this mission as well.

They split off and head to pack for this mission. He was mindful of Ambient, for oddly enough, the Organoid was quiet and seemed to be planning something. It wasn't until they made it to his apartment did Ambient growls out, "We know where Naruto's headed." He blinks in surprise and asks, "How so?" Ambient makes the equivalent of a snort and snarls, "He's heading to that gate in Earth Country. If you had been memorizing those scrolls you've been reading, you would have put the pieces together. That gate leads to planet Zi and what's native to Zi?" "Zoids." He says in shock, he blinks as he sees where Ambient was headed. "So Orochimaru wants to control this gate and therefore he would have a way to gain more Zoids by using this gate."

He frowns and muses, "Then why is Naruto headed towards it?" "You know this human better then I do." Ambient snaps at him. He shakes his head and goes about the business of packing for the mission. He tries to put those thoughts out of his head, trying to go over the few details for his current mission.

)-(Naruto)-(

Shadow had been away from the campsite when Tobi showed up. His partner and best friend had been checking out the camp of Stone nins just half a day away. He had been both relieved and worried when he realized that Shadow hadn't been around the camp as Tobi made breakfast. Shadow appeared as Tobi napped, around noon.

In the end, they decided that there really wasn't any reason to have Shadow hid from Tobi. He had a good laugh at Tobi's reaction to Shadow. It took Tobi about thirty minutes before he finally approached Shadow and began to poke Shadow. Shadow tolerated that for a good five minutes before telling him to tell Tobi to quit it before Shadow shows Tobi what his metal jaws feel like from the inside.

It wasn't until that evening did Tobi begin asking questions about Shadow, about his relationship, and just what Shadow is capable of. He had been as patient as he could as Tobi barely gave him time to answer said question before the older nin asked yet another one. Shadow was amused until Tobi asked whether Shadow could 'breed' with another Organoid to make more Organoids.

Shadow roared and he finally got the chance to answer most of Tobi's questions. He left out certain things, like the few times Shadow and him shared dreams or about the fact that Shadow had a time limit on his bonding time with Rogue Liger. Soon after, they both went to sleep, leaving Shadow to stand guard over them.

He stretches as he gets out of his hiding spot. He had just witnessed a battle between Sound nins on foot against Stone nins piloting Zoids. The Sound ninjas all had something called a Curse Seal, this gave them busts of power and though they did destroy one of the Stone nins Zoids and damaged two others, they were ultimately killed by the Stone patrol.

He had been trying to steal a map from the Stone nins, but was forced to hide as the Sound ninjas appeared. He's lucky that nobody landed before his hiding spot or on top of it. He shakes his head at the dead bodies that lie around the ex-battle ground. It had taken the Stone ninja about three hours to collect the bits of the destroyed Zoid as well as to partly repair the two Zoids that had been damaged. He studies the dead bodies of the Sound nins.

He sighs and turns away, heading back to the camp where Tobi and Shadow were waiting at. He had to wonder if they'll be going at it alone, without any help from Zabuza and Haku. He's confident in his and Shadow's combine abilities to defeat this snake man and to pass through whatever defences that Stone has in place around the gate.

He sighs as he walks away from the dead lying about the area. He could feel the unyielding stares from the copses around him. It made him uneasy, especially considering the fact he had been privately cheering the Stone nins on, for he doesn't like the Sound leader. He doesn't doubt that he'll have nightmares about these Sound ninjas, it wouldn't be the first time faces of the dead entered into his dreams. Though this time, he would be more then willing to face them and stare them down. He knows that they were more or less dyed the same colour as Orochimaru, for Tobi had explained to him about those odd chakra tattoos that had spread across the Sound nins' skin, he's just happy none of them had level two of the cursed seal.

He makes it to the campsite and finds Tobi writing on scrolls. Both Shadow and Tobi look his way and he says, "Sound nins attacked, they're all dead though they did destroy a Zoid and damaged two others." Tobi shrugs and returns to doing what he was doing when he entered the camp. Shadow rumbles out, "He's busy creating ink summons." He looks surprise that Tobi knows how to create them and uses them; he read hints about it here and there, but never found any scroll detailing how to create them.

He doesn't both to ask Tobi any questions about where or how to make ink summons, he doubts he'll have any need of them once Shadow and him cross over into Zi with Rogue Liger. _'Actually, I probably wouldn't need any of the jutsus I've learnt when we arrive there. Though I will defiantly practice my chakra control, I wonder how people there would react to me walking on water?'_ He muses as he sits down under the shadow of the Rogue Liger. Trying to picture what life will be like on Zi, without any need for ninjas and for jutsus.

To be continued …


	22. Chapter 22

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

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Chapter 22

They had trouble from both the Stone nins and Sound nins, though the Sound nins were worst for the simple fact that they all had cursed seals as well as numbers. He wonder's if it was fortunate that they weren't piloting Zoids, but then from what he heard through the grape vine, Orochimaru wanted quantity over quality. That might explain why all of the Sound ninja they have encountered all had cursed seals, to make up for the fact they were poor ninjas without it.

He turns his head to look at Ambient, the red Organoid just returned and has blood on his tail spikes once more. He didn't doubt that Ambient took pleasure in killing things; he figured Ambient was getting great satisfaction as well as a type of revenge out of killing Stone and Sound nins, especially considering that it had been ninjas that had kept him locked up for a little over a year. He watches as Ambient walked towards him, ignoring the looks from some of the other Leaf nins.

Anko had maded a comment when Ambient showed up the first time with blood on his spikes, what her works summed up was that she liked Ambient's 'style' and ever since then, Ambient seemed to take a liking to the crazied Jonin. He doesn't know how long he'll be Ambient's chosen partner now that the dragon Organoid was taking a liking to Anko, he wondered what kind of trouble the pair would get into.

He sighs mentally and wonders when he began to pay attention to the personal lives of the people around him. _'I think it started with Naruto…'_ He muses to himself as he keeps his amusement inside, looking calm and detached on the outside. He still loathed showing emotion; he just didn't feel comfortable with it, since for the longest time, he had been focused on avenging his clan.

Now he has the task of reviving it and he just felt … in adequate. For one thing, he's yet to find himself really attracted to any girls around him. Also, he has stopped and admired some guys on the simple fact that they looked 'hot.' He wonders if the blame of his inability to be attracted to girls might not be blamed on all of his fan girls, their behaviour might have made him wary of the opposite gender. He decides to talk with a medic ninja once he gets back to Leaf. If he's lucky, he might be one of the few that likes both genders, that is something he decides to hope for.

He blinks once as Ambient stands before him and then turns, motioning that the Organoid want's him to clean the blood off. He digs around in the bag he had unconsciously pulled into his lap once Ambient entered his line of sight. He digs out some of the cleaning soap that's specially made to get rid of blood; he also finds the rag he has within the bag. He puts some of the soap onto the rag and begins to whip away the fresh blood. He has long since grown use to the scent of blood, this being the eleventh time that Ambient has done this.

He finished in twenty-five minutes, a bit of a personal record; the last one had been twenty-nine minutes. He gets up, holding the bag that had been in his lap, and heading off to clean off the bloody rag. Hinata follows after, wanting to fill up here bottle with fresh water. He didn't mind the company; Hinata never did chase after him and often stayed out of everyone's way.

He did study Hinata a bit more as they were kneeling by the stream; he frowns slightly as he wonders why Hinata wears such baggy cloths. He never met a female ninja that didn't flaunt their sexuality, but it seems that Hinata feels very uncomfortable about being the center of attention. He long since concluded that she had a low opinion of herself and of her worth, which he privately decided her family weren't trying to help her over come. He bets that most of her clan couldn't help but wonder how such a timid person could be born into their family, especially as heir to the main branch of the clan.

He mentally sighs and returns to finish cleaning the rag. Once he's done, he notices that Hinata was busy staring off into space. He moves quietly before and puts his free hand onto her shoulder. "We should be heading back." He says softly. Hinata snaps out of whatever she was thinking about and nods, he lets go of her shoulder and takes the lead. He can hear Hinata's foot steps behind him as they walk back towards the campsite; he wonders who'll get stuck cooking super for all of them as they go.

)-(Shadow)-(

He cocks his head to the side as he watches Tobi and Naruto spar; both had grown bored and felt the need to do something. So here they were, sparring with abandonment over a gorge. If he hadn't known better, he'd say that they have some kind of grudge against each other for they really weren't pulling their punches.

He just followed them as they leap around like crickets, meeting briefly mid air to exchange blows. They weren't throwing kunai or throwing star around, saving them for later. So they stuck to the odd ninjutsu and mostly to taijutsu. They have been going at it for a good fifteen minutes and they didn't look like they were ready to slow up or quit. He just hoped they didn't become exhausted after this fight, they still run the risk of being ambushed by either Sound or Stone.

He did notice that Naruto will most likely need to get his hair cut and perhaps re-dyed. It wouldn't hurt for some fresh cloths either, for Naruto's now a teen and will be experiencing growth spurts and other bodily changes before Naruto reaches adult hood. He wonders just how tall the blond will be once he's fully grown and filled out.

He observes Tobi unrolling of one of his drawing scroll with an ink beast drawn on it. He watches as Naruto makes a single hand sign and five water clones appear as the ink swarm of birds launches themselves off the paper and into the air. The six Narutos each take out a kunai and prepare themselves for the attack as the swarm of birds draw closer. Without a single battle cry or other signal, the Narutos as one, leap out of the way of the swarm.

The ink birds transform into six flocks, going after the six Narutos. The six defend themselves from the ink flocks, he watches as the dead birds burst into wet ink once they're destroyed. About two minutes after some of the ink birds getting destroyed did one of the flocks destroy one of the Narutos. He watches as that flock then joins with another in attacking another Naruto.

He glances around for Tobi, he founded the masked nin taking a bit of a rest as the older nin's creations attack his blond friend. Not that it'll do much against the blonds' stamina, the fox demon was also most likely helping to re-energize Naruto too. This means that this wasn't really going to slow Naruto down too much. He watches as Tobi finishes with his breather and begin to make his move towards the now three blonds.

He makes his equivalent of a snort as the real Naruto appears behind the masked nin, revealing that the other Narutos to be clones. The clones and ink birds finish each other off, leaving Tobi and the true Naruto alone on the battle field once more. The two were trying to finish this, for they weren't pulling away from each other like they had in the beginning.

A punch there sent one into a large rock, a kick from him sent the other into the ground hard, a few seconds later a palm knocked the air out of that one and a follow through of a kick sends Tobi towards the edge of the gorge, and Naruto breathing heavily from the same spot where he had kicked Tobi from. Tobi struggles to get up off the ground, wiping some sweat and dirt from around his eye. Naruto takes a defensive stance, after taking a few calming breaths. He would have rolled his eyes if he could as Tobi creates some clones of himself.

Soon the clones engage Naruto in combat, Naruto had some how gotten two kunai out of his pouch and had one in each hand. He found that they were air clones as Naruto destroys one of the nine clones. Naruto grunts in pain as one of the clones hits him in the kidneys. Naruto retaliates by destroying two of the Tobi clones.

'_There goes any thought of trying not to get exhausted. I guess I could always just bond with Rogue Liger and stump on the attacking nins.'_ He thinks as he continues to watch the fight between Naruto and Tobi's clones. For as Naruto finally cuts down one of the Tobi's down to one, the ground under Naruto crumbles and hands pull the blond into the ground. The one Tobi that Naruto had been facing vanish, leaving the real Tobi sitting on a rock behind Naruto. "I believe I win." Tobi says in a tried and amused tone.

Naruto grunts and then sighs, "Just get me out of here." Tobi helps Naruto get out of the ground. Soon the pair comes walking towards him; they were reviewing the fight in a good natured way. He just turns and takes the lead as they head towards where they left the liger. He hears the rumble of the two human's stomach as they come within view of the Zoid.

He wouldn't be the least surprise if they were ambushed right now, he truly wonders just how much luck Naruto and, perhaps Tobi, could produce. They have yet to be ambushed and the few times there had been a patrol in the area, it was usually them doing the ambushing if they thought they could get away with it, which was everytime. _'And that's been five times.'_ He muses to himself.

Soon Naruto and Tobi were under Rogue Liger, resting even though they were hungry. He picks up the packs and takes them to where the two humans were. He considers something and then decides to risk it. He figures that Tobi was most likely to wake if anything dangerous approached, since it seems that Tobi's habit, which most likely served him well in the past and most likely in the future. He settles himself on the ground within a few feet of Naruto. He then lies down and curls up. He then goes into what's his equivalent of slumber.

)-(Tobi)-(

He's been waken by the emptiness of his stomach. He glances over to his young blond companion and notices the black metal dragon just a bit beyond Naruto. He smiles slightly as he returns to looking at the blond. He resists the urge to move some strands of hair from the teen's face. He sighs softly, easily seeing his old mentor within the demon carrier.

A bit of old fury stirs up as he remembers some of what he's heard of how Leaf had treated the teen. He wonders what his reaction would be if he ever came face to face with his old team mate. He didn't see why Kakashi hadn't tried to take Naruto in as a baby, to look after him like his own son. He shakes his head, guessing that Kakashi had been busy trying to lose himself in doing missions after the Fourth died.

He had to admit that he's surprise at how well train Naruto is, considering the blond never had a real teacher to help him get as good as he is. He glances over at the black Organoid resting a few feet away. His stomach demands food and he looks around for the bags, only to find them just a few feet away. He gets up and walks over to his pack; he pulls out some nutrient bars and began munching on them once he removed his mask.

Once the edge of his hunger is gone, he checks out what time it is. He blinks, surprise that it's only noon. He then begins to start on lunch, taking things out of Naruto's pack to get to the dry meat that the blond has stashed away. He takes out a scroll and soon a large pot appears. He picks it up and walks towards the spring they found a bit south west of where they were.

As he waits for it to fill, he muses about other things, like what he'll do once he kills Orochimaru off or how he'll be able to found his own village. He had promised Zabuza a place in that village. Then there was the fact that he'd most likely run into Kakashi somewhere down the line. He shakes his head as he picks up the filled pot.

He once more glances at Naruto once he finishes setting up the cooking fire. He drops some spices, dry meat, and some roots and mushrooms they found last night into the water. He wonders what will happen once Naruto and Shadow close the gate, he did have this theory that all the Zoids would disappear, returning where they came from. Not that he has a problem with that; ninjas had been coming to depend on them a great deal. Though Zoid are usually awarded to high level ninja like Chunin and Jonin, they would be better equipped to defend themselves from other ninja attempting to steal their Zoid.

Naruto stirs as the soup begins to boil. He doesn't turn around as he listens to the sounds that Naruto getting up off the ground and then walking towards him. "How long have I been napping?" Naruto asks as the blond sits down to his right. "Not long, I only got up about fifteen minutes ago." He informs the blond. He watches as Naruto moves a strand of hair from before his eyes. They waited in silence as their lunch continues to cook, he enjoying the company of the young teen that resembles his mentor and teacher greatly. He hopes that whatever happens once they parted ways that the blond will have some fond memories of him. He prays to whatever god that would listen for Naruto to make his dream a reality before stirring the soup.

To be continued …


	23. Chapter 23

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 23

Ambient was staring right at the body that he had just killed. He wonders if the red Organoid was pouting about not being the one to kill the Sound nin. He wonders just how blood thirsty the red dragon Organoid really is or how it came about. He just stood there, not really knowing what else to do, for the nin before him was his first kill.

He turns and looks at the hand that had thrown the kunai that is still logged in the neck of the Sound nin. He knows that someone was talking, he just found it hear to understand what they were saying. He also found he couldn't look away from the dead body that's lying on the ground before him. He felt so… so… numb.

/----

He blinks as the sunlight hits him. He sits up and looks around. He sighs in relief; glad that his dream hadn't contained the fight he had with the nin. That had happened just last week, about a day before they split off from the older task force. He knows that if he closes his eyes he could still see the body lying on the ground.

It had been during the fight did his bloodline limit activated without his knowing until he actually looking into some water. He had been stunned by the fact his eyes were red and that there were two dots for both eyes. He also began to notice how well his eye sight had become as well.

It hadn't taken long before he found out how to control it. He found that he could perform about two of the three jutsus that the dead Sound nin had used against him, giving him an idea when his eyes became red with those dots that circle around his pupil. He had sparred with Kakashi just before they left and he found just how much he's improved when he has the Sharingan is active. He also didn't feel the need to gain the three dots for his Sharingan, for his reason to get stronger was already dead and he just didn't have it in him to find out and then seek out his brother's killer.

He looks around for Ambient as he was pondering such things. He couldn't spot the Organoid any where, which means that the red dragon Organoid will most likely be arriving with a bloody tail spikes. He wonders if there's a jutsu that would allow him to control the blood thirsty Organoid named Ambient. Images of him ordering a reluctant red Organoid played out in his mind; he smirks as the imaginary slave brought him his favourite food.

A snap of a stick snaps him out of his daydreaming. He turns to find Ambient walking into the campsite. He glances around and spies that Sakura had drifted off during her turn at sentry. He snorts as he thinks, _'Some things never change.'_ He gets up and walks towards his bag.

He takes out the rag and dabs the liquid soup onto the rag. Ambient turn and holds the tail out for him to clean. There wasn't much to say between them, he didn't know what to say or do to get Ambient to listen to him and Ambient couldn't careless about him, just as long as he left Ambient alone. They both know that Ambient was only partnered up with him for the simple fact that Sasuke had a great deal of talent when it comes to piloting the Shadow Fox, even though Ambient couldn't bond more then two minutes to the fox type Zoid. It also meant that the Zoid was more powerful then Ambient expected and couldn't improve it much, which was fine by him. It just means that there was much that needed to be improved.

He didn't realise he was done until Ambient's tail moves out from under his hand and the Organoid walks away. He studies the metal dragon and shakes his head. A little voice in the back of his head wonders if he had been like that before he ended up teamed up with Naruto. He might not have been the blond's friend, but Naruto really made him think outside of his usual mind set. Whether that was a good thing has yet to be decided, for even though he is more aware of the people around him, he also found that he just had to know more about them as well.

'_It's kind of like what I felt when I couldn't get any answers out of Naruto, when I had so many questions. Now that I'm aware of how they're lives affect me, I can't help but want to know more about them. I can't believe just how many connections there are between us all. I guess Naruto already knew that…'_ He muses as he walks back to his sleeping bag. He pauses and before groaning, he moves and picks up Sakura and carries her to her sleeping bag. He gently puts her on it and then walks back to where she had fallen asleep. He wonders why they bother to have Sakura even do sentry duty if all she does is fall asleep during her turn. "We could get attacked and we'd be caught without ever waking up." He murmurs out loud. He sends Sakura's sleeping form an icy glare. He decides that once everyone's eaten that he'll bring up the subject of Sakura falling asleep on sentry duty, they can't have anyone falling asleep at their post when they're on guard duty.

'_Besides, she should have been use to this by now. Honestly, for someone who memorized every single pointless rule and law, you'd think she'd know the consequences of falling asleep on sentry duty. We've been Genin for about a year and a half, been on a great deal C-ranked missions, and she still hasn't learnt how to stay away during the night for four hours? How is it she's still a ninja?'_ Were among the thoughts he ponders as he watches the sun rise up.

Shino wakes and he says, "She fell asleep again." The insect user nods slightly and then gets up. He moves and begins to search for the packs that contain their rations. He's relieved to find that the bags were by Lee and Neji. After moving Lee's arm off one of the packs, he carries them towards the spot where they had set up the campfire.

Once the grill is over the fire pit, he then uses a summoning scroll to summon wood. A minor fire jutsu and they have a fire to use for cooking. He soon finds a pot and the ingredients for pancakes. Just as some of the batter hits the grill, Chouji wakes. The chunky teen hums in pleasure at the smell of the cooking pancakes.

With Chouji awake, Shikamaru and Kiba wake up as the husky teen moves out of his sleeping position. Kiba murmurs something softly and Akamaru wakes. Shikamaru curls up and tries to fall asleep once more, most likely to be woken up by Ino once the blonde girl notices her lazy team mate. Neji wakes as Lee rolls into the space where the packs once laid, hitting the prideful teen in the chest.

Soon all the guys, except for Shikamaru, are awake and making enough noise to wake Hinata and Tenten up. Tenten then glances over at Sakura's prone form on top of her sleeping bag. The older teen glances to Shino and then once the weapon master looks at him, he scowls before returning to keep an eye on the batter and on Chouji. Ino is being wakened by Tenten as Hinata attempts to wake Sakura up.

Once Ino stops complaining about how messy she must look, the blond finished combing her hair and set about waking Shikamaru up a second time. He also used the spatula on Chouji's hand to stop Chouji from grabbing a cooked pancake from his blind spot. Soon Chouji gives up and digs around within his own pack for something to snack on. He wonders why Chouji even waits for their breakfast at all, considering that to fill Chouji up would take up most to all of their food, which they need to ration for they don't know if they should risk entering a village or town to buy more food supplies.

Soon Kiba, Akamaru, and Lee were sparring and Tenten had convinced Neji to spar with her soon after. Ino took over as chief, allowing him to head off to spar with Shino. He didn't even glance at Sakura as he passed by where she was sitting, he didn't trust himself enough to not start in on her inability to stay awake for four hours for sentry duty.

After an hour of him starting breakfast, it was ready so they all stopped sparring and reached for a plate of pancakes. The syrup is passed around among them, some passing on it like Neji or drowning their pancakes in syrup like Chouji. He continued to give Sakura the cold shoulder, Tenten frowns at the pink haired teen, while Shino seemed indifferent.

Shikamaru and Hinata collected the dishes, though Shikamaru only collected Chouji's and Lee's. Shikamaru most likely muttering about how troublesome this was as the pair used minor water jutsus to wash the dirty dishes. Once they were wiped down, Tenten asks bluntly, "Did Sakura fall asleep on sentry duty again?" Shino and him nod and they all turn to look at the pink haired girl, Sakura gulps at the uneasy looks she was receiving.

As Sakura looks guilty about it, he takes a dig he's been itching to do since he woke to find her sleep. "We could have been killed last night and any other night you've fallen asleep. You keep saying you can take your turn as sentry, but you can't keep awake. You've been a ninja for under two years now and you still can't stay awake when our lives depend on you guarding us at night!" Sakura's eyes get watery at this. He doubted that Neji or Tenten altered their expressions, when Ino or Lee looked like they were about to jump in and defend Sakura, they were stopped cooled by a glance from him or from Neji.

This time, Sakura will answer for her inability to be a sentry. Many nodded in agreement with his statement. "If we wanted to be ambushed during the night, we'd have nobody do sentry duty, but we don't and this is getting tiresome. We will report this once we return to Hidden Leaf and you'll be on clean up duty from now and until we finish this." Tenten says, Sakura has tears dripping from the corners of her eyes.

Neji glares at Lee and then at Ino as he says, "You two will not help her either. She deserves this and a whole lot more. She brought this onto herself; you two will not also try and let her take your turns either." The pair shifted uncomfortably under Neji's gaze. They nodded and soon Sakura begins to clean up by herself. They then began to deal with their hygiene needs and to pack up their own sleeping bags.

They all know that Sakura got off lightly, but then, the true punishment will occur once they return to Hidden Leaf. This incident could very well end Sakura's dreams of being a ninja, but then, he thinks back to that introduction that Kakashi had them do once they were placed on team 7. He snorts and shakes his head as he remembers the way the girl had blushed as she looked at him during the whole thing. He concludes that Sakura never really took being a ninja as seriously as Naruto and him, even though Naruto had planned on retiring at a certain point.

Whatever reason Sakura had first persuaded the path of a ninja seemed lost its effects once the girl began to chase after him. He glances over at the blond teen, wondering if Ino just added him to her list of reasons to become a ninja, for the blond seemed more driven then Sakura. He attempts to get those thoughts out of his head once he picks up his stuff and walks over to the Shadow Fox.

He pauses and looks around for Ambient. He forgot all about the Organoid and now wondered why the red dragon hadn't been around to make snipe comments about the whole affair. He frowns and Kiba asks, "What's wrong?" "I can't seem to spy Ambient anywhere." He answers. That was enough to cause Kiba to stiffen and they both survey the area for any signs of the violent Organoid. Kiba takes a few sniffs; he noted that Akamaru was with Hinata so it was just Kiba and him.

"Are you sure he's even around here?" Kiba asks after a few minutes. "He came back, I cleaned his spikes, and he left as I was considering what to do next." He admits to the dog trainer. "I wonder where he headed off to." Kiba muses out loud. He nods in agreement with that and they returned to climbing up along the foreleg of his Zoid, hoping that where ever that Organoid is, that he'll not appear covered in blood yet again.

To be continued …


	24. Chapter 24

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 24

Ambient hadn't arrived as they were ready to leave. In the end, they figured that the Organoid will catch up, everyone is a bit relieved about the fact that the red Organoid wasn't around. He just hoped that Ambient doesn't get into too much trouble as he pilots the fox Zoid, following behind Neji with Shikamaru following behind him in a Konig Wolf with Tenten bring up the rear in a Rev Raptor.

He tries to tone out Kiba and Akamaru's attempts at singing. He couldn't tell if Shino was as annoyed as him at the words that Kiba was shouting about. He figures that it's dirty song and continues on trying to tone their off key voices as he follows behind the Lightning Saix.

/----

He frowns as he follows the red Organoid. Ambient appeared just an hour ago and had demanded that he followed him. The fact that the Organoid had been away for about two weeks had bothered him and he had to wonder just what Ambient did during that time. He sighs and continues to follow the violent Oganoid through the bushes with only the starlight to help him navigate through the darkness.

?-?-

He frowns inwardly as he wonders when Tobi will finish his final preparations. He stands by Naruto, watching as Tobi began to undo seals that had been placed on him during the older nins time in Akatsuki. The seals were to help the one eyed nin grow great reserves of chakra by restricting how much his chakra flows within Tobi's body.

It seems that about sixty percent of Tobi's chakra had been restricted and it'll take a while before Tobi's body is ready to handle not having his chakra restricted. It also meant that they got as close as they dared to the area where the gate is housed, but far enough away to be outside of their patrols. The Rogue Liger is stashed away in a house covered in rocks, mimicking a natural occurrence or an old jutsu accident. Either way, they had done their best to hide the Zoid away to help decrease the chances of getting spotted or scanned.

He did wonder just what kind of advance stealth systems the Rogue Liger has that allows it to avoid detection. He couldn't find it on any of variations of his scanners, which most likely is an advantage at this point of time. For if he can't locate it on any of his scanners so then it's very unlikely that anyone else using scanners could find it.

He watches the energy of navy and blue pulse up from the ink that make up the diagram on the stone slab. Candles with light blue fire burning at the edges of the diagram, he watches as the seven scrolls begin to draw in the ink diagrams. Once the scrolls finish drawing in the ink, they begin to smoke, and within three seconds Tobi begins to scream as seals began to appear on Tobi's bare skin.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could tell that Naruto pales visibility as the seals on Tobi's skin glow an eerie green. Tobi's holds himself and seems to be trying to stay quiet, he watches as Tobi shivers and shakes as the seals begin to glow brightly, the scrolls begin to burn black and he doesn't see the flames that are burning the scroll paper. He doesn't see smoke either as the scrolls burn black.

As more of the scrolls begin to burn, so a green light begins to cover Tobi's naked body. Tobi lets out a final scream as the light brighten and covers the older nins body for a good five minutes. Once the seven scrolls are ashes, the light fades, revealing a sleeping Tobi. Naruto finally takes a few steps towards the older nin after staring at the man for a good three minutes.

He watches as his blond friend and partner picks the head and shoulders of Tobi's body. He's about to follow when his scanner reveals something moving his way at high speeds. He checks through his variations of scanners and finds that it's an Organoid heading his way. He decides to intercept the Organoid before they spot Naruto and Tobi.

He opens up his wings and jets up off the ground. He soon spots a red blur and would have scowls if he could. "And just what did you trade to regain your freedom?" He growls at Ambient. He just knows that Ambient was smirking within, for the red Organoid replies as they circle around in the air, "I got myself a human too. I'll wager that he's more talented then your's."

They landed among the bushes and rock out cropping that was beneath their flight path. His wings close up once he touches the ground, Ambient's energy wings dissipate as well. Despite the fact that either of them had it within them to alter their facial expressions, they were doing their best to glare at each other.

He didn't like the fact that someone let Ambient out of whatever cage or cell Leaf put the red dragon Organoid in. He did have to wonder about the mental stability of Ambient's so called partner. True Raven could have care less about who he hurt during a Zoid battle, but Raven never went out of his way to injure towns folk and such. Ambient took pleasure out of killing humans; he really wondered when the other Organoid grown fond of killing, but then he didn't know the other from the ear of when there were Zoidians around. For all he knows, Ambient could have been created with that liking from the very start.

"I've been searching for you. Now we'll see which of us has better taste when it comes to picking partners. Mine has a powerful Zoid and is very talented; I doubt you and yours will be a match for us." Ambient snarls out. He's amused about this brag, for it shows that Ambient didn't think much about his choices in partners. He growls out. "If you're interested in a match, bring your partner here without his Zoid and I'll bring mine with his Zoid. If they decide they want to fight, then we'll arrange an area for the battle." He turns and once his wings unfold, he adds, "If you think it's worth it, that is." He jets off the ground and heads to where the camp is. His very much amused about how childish Ambient is acting, deciding to chalk it up to being imprisoned for about two years.

?-?-

It took them about five hours, but they finally made it where Ambient wanted to go. He blinks as he notices a teen with long blond hair. He notes the tan and how the teen's cloths seem to be slightly small for him. He couldn't see the blond's face until he draws closer.

He's attention leaves the blond as a pool of darkness seems to move and two blue eyes study him. He stumbles back as the black Organoid moves to stand before the blond, who he now knows is Naruto. "He looks weak." Ambient growls out. He didn't understand the black dragon's answering growl, though he switches from staring at the black Organoid to study Naruto.

"Naruto…" He says, not too sure what to say to the blond before him. "Sasuke, you've grown." Naruto says simply. "So have you." He says. Naruto nods and then Naruto turns to the black Organoid and asks, "This is who we've been waiting for?" The black Organoid makes a barkish growl. He guess that was a yes from the way Naruto turn to study him, slower this time.

He had mixed feelings at the moment, for here was the person they had been searching for and yet from the looks of things, Naruto was fine. He states, "So you and him seem close, considering he kidnapped you." Both Naruto and the black Organoid seem to give him a sharp look. "I've known Shadow since I was six." Naruto says in a cold tone. He blinks and feels his jaw open in surprise, for that was something he hadn't expected.

"How could you keep him a secret?" He asks once he recovers. Naruto looks amused at that and Shadow growls something out. Ambeint just plain growls at Shadow, Naruto glance at Ambient and frowns. "What are you doing with Ambient? I thought you'd avoid someone like him." Naruto asks. He blinks and asks, "You know Ambient?" "I know of him, Shadow told me about him." Naruto answers. He looks between the two Organoids and didn't know what to make of that information.

"I wasn't informed about that." He says as he sends Ambient a glare, the red Organoid seemed unfazed about his glare. "Do you even know why you're here?" Naruto asks. "He just demanded that I follow him." He admits to the blond. "Well, it seems that Ambient has a bone to pick with Shadow and want the four of us to battle it out. We're here to arrange the date, time, and place of said battle." Naruto says dryly. He closes his eyes and tries to wonder just how much trouble he's in.

'_Here's the guy we've been looking for and now it seems that I have no clue what to do or act around him. I guess I never thought I'd ever confront Naruto ever again. So now what am I suppose to do?'_ He ponders as Ambient begins to argue with Shadow. Naruto had turned away from him and seems to be amused as the two dragon Organoids argue with each other. His emotions were just all over the place, he couldn't pin any of them down too long as a new one flutters into its place.

Finally the pair of Organoid stopped arguing once Ambient turns around angrily. Naruto snorts and says, "So it's going to be tomorrow, around noon, and down at the flats just south of this spot. I believe Tobi wouldn't mind refereeing the battle and the time limit is ten minutes. Anyone has anything to add?" He shakes his head, surprise that he missed the whole argument. "Then see you tomorrow around noon." Naruto says and walks away with Shadow. He watches as Naruto and Shadow disappear in the darkness, he then noted that Ambient is alright walking away. He sighs and begins to follow the red Organoid. He wonders just what kind of excuse he'll be using to make it to the fight.

)-(Naruto)-(

He had been surprised and slightly nervous once he realised that it had been Sasuke that Ambient partnered up with. He reflected that Sasuke has changed since he last saw the silent teen. He also had to wonder just what Sasuke's goal in life now that his elder brother is dead.

He glances over at Tobi, the older nin seems to be curious about Sasuke, which he chalks up to Tobi knowing Sasuke's older brother, he kind of forgot the guy's name. The masked nin seems to be recovering from the unsealing, truth be told, he hadn't heard of such a way to seal and unseal one's strength. But then, it seemed so … so… permanent in a way.

Tobi stands straighter as his elder notice that he was looking at the man. "I'm fine." Tobi snaps, he sighs and nods, turning to look at something else. They didn't have anything better to do then go down to the flats and wait for Sasuke and Ambient to appear. He checks the time; Sasuke has fifteen minutes before it's time for their battle.

He watches Shadow; he wonders what's so interesting that the Organoid is gazing up into the sky. He glances up for a bit, but then sighs and studies the landscape once more. Just as he thinks he's going to do something drastic, a large black fox Zoid arrives with minutes to spare. He stands straighter and walks pass Shadow as he heads towards Rogue Liger.

He soon sits within the cockpit of his Zoid, Sasuke's face appears on a screen. "Ready?" Sasuke asks and he nods. "This is a time battle so the battle ends in ten minutes. Ready?" Tobi says and then once the Zoids crouch, the one eyed man shouts, "Begin!"

They rush at each other; he leaps back as Sasuke turns left sharply. He rams the black fox Zoid in the right side as Sasuke brings his gun into play. Though he gets hit about eight times, he pushes Sasuke back. He pulls back and slashes at the side with one of the Rogue Liger's forepaws. The black Zoid pulls back and he gives chase, the bottom blades are lowered as he dodges the shoots from the torrent gun resting on the fox's back.

He allows the Liger to increase its speed, a grin makes its way onto his face as he judges correctly which direction the fox Zoid turns. The systems bring up a weapon screen. Soon the twin blades begin to glow and he launches the Liger into the air. The right blade cuts one of hind legs of the Fox. The Fox's shots hit the Liger around his back legs.

He frowns as the damage report shows just how much damage has been done from that last attack, but then, he doubts that Sasuke is fairing any better. He notices the limp on the fox Zoid as the Zoid turns around to face him. "Shadow!" "Ambient!" Both of them say at the same time. The two Organoids roar and then as they launch themselves off the ground, they're soon covered in light as they fly towards them.

The Rogue Liger heals once Shadow joins with the core. The Zoid roars once it's fully healed. He turns and glances over at Tobi quickly; he turns to find the black fox Zoid charging at him, he leaps, lands, and then jumps off the back of the other Zoid. His scanners register multi Zoids heading their way. He frowns and says, "Seems like our battle is finished, Sasuke. I have multiply Zoids heading our way."

Sasuke nods and Ambient shots out of the black Fox. "Tobi?" He asks over the loud speakers. "I'll be fine!" The man snaps once more. He smiles and nods his head. He charges towards the group of Zoids heading there way, Shadow remaining bonded to the Rogue Liger. The two blades resting on the Liger's back move from their positions, all four blades are now ready to be used.

A screen with that creepy snake man appears on screen. He tones out whatever demands the man may have as he races between a pair of Zoids, they explode as soon as he's about eight feet from them. The group totals over sixty Zoids and he doesn't miss a beat as he engages in battle with about five of them, with a few of the Zoids possessing guns try and hit him.

He feels his blood sing as he battles the group. The group only gets in each other's way as they try and attack him. He could feel the fox within stir as the fighting increases. A grin settles on his face as he weaves through the Zoids around him, his four blades slicing into and out of enemy Zoids.

He loses track of how many he's crippled by the time Sasuke shouts out for help. He had forgotten about the other teen in the battle lust that has settled in him. He turns to find the black Zoid that Sasuke had been piloting being held down by five smaller Zoids with a larger one attempting to get the cockpit open. He stares wide eyed as Tobi suddenly appears and takes Sasuke out of the cockpit once the glass shattered.

His eyes narrow and he feels the fox's rage intensify. He yells out as he allows the red chakra to pore around his body into the Rogue Liger. He can feel Shadow and his link and he sends energy to strength it. He soon loses sight where Naruto ends and Shadow begins, though it was fairly easy to tell where the fox's emotions begin and end as they mush with their own.

To be continued …


	25. Chapter 25

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 25

They roar as he begins to feel more connected to the transforming Zoid, it was like he was joining with Shadow and the Zoid core as more and more of the Kyuubi's chakra alters the Rogue Liger. The Zoid, Shadow, and himself seem to fuse together mentally as they attempt to keep the Kyuubi from trying to fuse with the Zoid core. Though the Kyuubi did assault their combine mind, it subsided for now.

They were Liger Eternity, Rogue Liger's enraged mode. Through unblinking eyes, they turned and with a snarl, launch themselves at the remaining Zoids. The one they wanted dead seems to be trying to put the army he had gathered between them and himself, not that it mattered they were more then up to the task of obliterating them along with the snake man.

)-(Tobi)-(

Once he had Sasuke in his arms he had run about twenty feet away until he found that nobody was following them. He turns and gasps as massive amounts of demonic chakra begin to cover the Liger. He watches the Liger roars as it increases its size and began to grow taller and fill out. The armour grows blades and out of the shoulders grows barrel guns.

He couldn't make out the colour of the liger for the red chakra is still covering the whole Zoid. Then the Zoid turns and shakes slightly, causing the red chakra to dissipate, revealing the colour change. Around the edge of the blades and joint pins, the colour of green jade, the plates shadowing the silver armour are a mute purple. He couldn't see the eyes of the liger that is now towering before him.

The Zoid that had been Rogue Liger had grown eleven meters and lengthen about twelve meters. The usual four blades that Rogue Liger has have been changed and hadn't grown longer, but broader and permanently fixated in their spots on the two sides of the changed Liger.

He watches as the Liger snarls and launches into the group of enemy Zoids. He had a hard time keeping track of where the new Liger was, though he did find that its easier to tell where the Liger had been by the ruined Zoids that were falling apart or blowing up. Some tried to get away, these were the ones at the far edge of the group but as the Zoid that the snake nin was piloting was trying to bolt pass them, the Liger goes through them instead of around them.

He flinches as he hears a splat sound as the Liger diverges from chasing after the Zoid. It took a few minutes for it to register that the Liger had just stepped on the leader of Hidden Sound. "What happened?" Sasuke asks once the teen realizes that it's over. A deafening roar sounds out once the altered Liger destroys the last remaining Zoid.

They freeze as the Liger turns and glares down at them with its glowing blue eyes. The Liger rumbles as it begins to move towards them. He watches as the red chakra begins to make an appearance once more. This time the Liger roars in pain and he watches as the Liger begins to shake its head and then begins to shake its whole body, bucking around as if trying to get rid of an unwanted passenger. He blinks as the armour attempts to alter once more, but soon blue chakra begins to clash with the red, it seems that the fox is trying to take control and Naruto with the help of Shadow and maybe even the Zoid itself are battling to keep that from happening.

"What's wrong with … it?" Sasuke asks softly. "I think Naruto and Shadow's minds are trying to fight off the fox's attempts of claiming the Zoid for its new body. Which begs the question, how can it do that when it's within Naruto's body?" He wonders out loud. "What do you mean?" Sasuke asks without taking his eyes off of the bucking Zoid. "Only that in theory, the only being that the demon should be able to take over would be Naruto's human body, not a metallic machine shaped like an animal." He says and then adds, "Which begs the question of just how did Naruto become bonded to his Zoid."

Sasuke nods, agreeing with his last statement, he turns his full attention back onto the bucking Zoid before him. He frowns under his mask, wondering just how long it will take for Naruto to take control of the fox. He hopes it's before Sasuke's team shows up.

)-(Naruto)-(

They grinded their mental teeth and began to push back the enraged fox. They were in agony from the mental wounds that the fox inflicted, but then they gave the fox blow for blow. A thought crosses into their mind, coming from the one called Shadow, they pause once the fox withdraws slightly. They considered it and then they calmed down and began to weaken the bonds that brought them together.

Slowly he becomes himself once more, the fox growling its displeasement over this tactic, but it could do nothing to stop it. He forces the fox back with the help of the seal and soon he can't even touch the minds of Shadow or with the Zoid core. He's exhausted, so is Shadow and he's engulfed into Shadow as the Organoid pulls out of the Zoid, taking him with.

He feels a rush of air, which wakes him and he feels someone touching him with warm hands. He smiles, happy to have things back to how they should be. He drifts off into a dreamless sleep.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He blinks as the bucking liger pauses and seems to look thoughtful about something, then the energy surrounding the Zoid that had been at war just faded away. The Zoid then shrinks and consumes parts of itself, then a streak of something launches itself out of the Zoid, he watches as the black Organoid stands for about a few seconds, opening up his hatch and Naruto getting dropped out. Then the Organoid drops onto the ground, not moving at all.

He watches as the masked man moves to check up on Naruto. He notices how tired the blond is and sighs as Tobi declares that the blond ex-team mate is just sleeping. He sighs as he hopes that the blond demon container recovers.

He then blinks and looks around for Ambient, but can't seem to find the red Organoid. "Err, I can't seem to locate Ambient." He says to Tobi. The man looks at him and sighs. "Then you might want to head back before he makes it there without you. He's most likely up to mischief." The one eyed man says. He nods and turns away from the two humans and the Organoid.

He doesn't feel like he belonged there, he just prays that Naruto will be fine. He pauses and glances at where the Shadow Fox lies. He looks thoughtful as he turns away, soon he's jogging away from the scene, hoping that by tomorrow, he could come and recover his Zoid. He soon picks up the pace until he's moving quickly through the brushes and rocks. He wonders just what Ambient is planning as he flies over the group, leaping between large rocks as well as a few medium sized ones.

He blinks as the Rev Raptor comes into view. He pauses and watches as the Zoid looks down at him and over the loud speakers Hinata's voice comes out. "Sasuke! Are you alright?" Hinata stutters from the cockpit of the red Zoid. He shouts out, "I'm fine. Have you seen Ambient?" "We thought he was with you." Hinata stutters out. He sighs and climbs onto the Zoid's head once Hinata makes it bow. He rides on the head as Hinata directs the Zoid back to camp, giving him time to think up a few good excuses as to why they should wait before retrieving his Shadow Fox.

)-(Naruto)-(

He woke to find himself staring up at the ceiling of a cave. He blinks as blur memories begin to become crystal clear and he turn his head right and then left, he finds Shadow resting to his left. He smiles as he realised that Shadow must be as tired as he had looked. He sighs and closes his eyes once more, allowing himself to once more the dreamless blackness to over come him.

He wakes again to the smell of cooking meat. He opens his eyes and struggles against the weight that seems to weigh them down. He rolls onto his side and finally sits up. His vision dazes over and his ears seem to ring as well. He stiffens and soon that disappears, he's unsure what to make of it for he's never experience anything like it before.

He then surveys the cave until he finds Tobi sitting before a fire. He glances over to where Shadow is resting and bites his lower lip in worry for his friend and battle partner. He crawls over to the black Organoid and rests a hand on Shadow's shoulders. He lets out a sigh and turns to find Tobi watching him without his usual mask on.

"How long?" He manages to say as his voice cracks. He swallows, suddenly aware of how thirsty he is. "About three days." The elder nin says softly. He turns away and looks at Shadow once more.

He closes his eyes and gathers some of his remaining strength; he then focuses on his hand that's resting on Shadow's shoulder. A blue glow shimmers as he puts a little too much chakra into his hand. It steadies out and within four minutes; Shadow moves slightly and lets out a soft growl. He stops and pulls away from his friend, satisfied that Shadow will recover on his own now that he jumped started Shadow's energy flow.

He smiles at his best friend and then turns to face the cooking fire. He considers his opinions and decides it's best to just crawl over, not wanting to find out if that odd sensation would repeat itself as he tries to stand. He then sits cross legged once he's by the fire; he glances at the entrance of the cave. He looks away and once more surveys the area that the fire illuminates.

"Did anyone get hurt when we were fighting for control?" He asks after drinking a glass of water in one go. He hands the cup back to Tobi and the man pores water from a water skin into the cup. Once done, the youthful looking man with one eye hands the cup to him once more. Tobi then answers once he took a sip from the cup, "Other then trampling on the ruined Zoids and most likely their dead pilots, nobody."

His unknowingly tensed muscles relax and he feels like a heavy burden was lifted from him. He looks at the fire, saying, "Sorry about losing control like that. It's just…" He didn't know how to describe the array of emotions that had been stirred when he saw what that group of Zoids had been doing to Sasuke and then when he thought that Sasuke and Tobi were in grievous danger.

He blinks as Tobi says something, which he didn't hear. He watches as the cooking pig is taken out of the fire. He sets his cup of water on the ground and picks up a simple sharp knife. Soon Tobi finishes cutting into the smallish pig and placing meat onto two plates. His stomach rumbles as Tobi turns and hands him his portion. He swallows to keep from drooling, he places the plate on his lap and begins to use the knife to cut the hunch of meat into sizable pieces.

Once he has most of it in smaller bits, he wipes his hands on a clean rag, he sets the knife down and picks up a pair of chopsticks. He tries to savour his meal, but he's so hungry that he finishes within nine minutes. He then switches the chopsticks for the knife and once more gets about the task of cutting the meat into small bits. He pauses as he stares at his meal; he then sets the knife down and picks up the portion with both hands and tears into it.

He lets out a content sigh once he finishes off his portion of meat. He smiles and begins to feel tired once more. He picks up that rag and uses it to wipe his hands and his mouth. He says, "Thanks for the meal, Tobi." The man nods in acknowledgement and takes the plate from him. He gets up and walks back to where his sleeping bag is. He takes time and crawls under the sheet that's covering his sleeping bag. He then slowly drifts off into slumber with a full stomach.

)-(Tobi)-(

He smiles softly at the sleeping blond. Movement from Shadow cause him to focus in on the black Organoid. The metal beast growls softly before rising his head up. Once Shadow checks Naruto over, the glowing blue eyes turn to look at him. "He just fell asleep." He tells the Organoid. Shadow growls in a low tone and then stands up.

He watches as the Organoid turns towards the entrance. He nods as Shadow glances his way. Then Shadow turns and walks about of the cave, to do what, he couldn't say. He then turns to the pig he had cooked and wrapped it up. They had enough meat to last them for a few days, which gives Naruto and Shadow time to fully recover their strength. He glances at his mask that's resting by a rock.

He shifts slightly, not at all comfortable without it resting on his face. His hand traces where his lost eye had once been. _'You were sure skilful when you removed it, Rin. You didn't make any cuts that weren't needed. I'm proud of that.'_ He muses before he removes his fingers from that area. Thoughts of his other team mate drift through his mind's eye, but he doesn't want to focus on Kakashi. He sighs and glances at the blond that reminds him of his blond mentor, wishing that where ever his teacher is that the Fourth was proud of him for helping Naruto pursue his dreams.

)-(Sasuke)-(

They hadn't seen the red Organoid in the last five days, which could mean a lot of things. But in the end, it hardly mattered, for they were busy trying to help the Shadow Fox repair itself. It had been tricky, but for the last three days, the black Zoid was looking better then it had when they went to pick it up from the battle field the day after his appointed fight with Naruto.

He pets Akamaru on the head unknowingly, for his thoughts were centred on what he had witnessed that day. A part of him was kind of pleased that Naruto had been protective of him, despite what their relationship had been like before Naruto and Shadow left Leaf. Another was really pissed that their battle had been irrupted by that army of Sound piloting Zoid.

He did have to admit that even though Naruto would have won, he still wouldn't mind losing knowing that he had put up a good fight. He did wonder just how the fight would have been like if they had been allowed to continue. He had Ambient bonded with the Shadow Fox's core and Shadow with that Liger's core. It would have been the first time Ambient and him would have actual done battle together.

An enraged cry comes from the northeast of the camp, startling everyone. He blinks as he feels a part of his leg suddenly become cold. He blinks and notices the dog hair on his pants. He shakes himself and gets up quickly, pacing with Kiba as they race toward where the cry originated from.

He spots Neji about to do something to Hinata, he doesn't think twice as he launches two kunai at the older Hyuuga. Lee tackles Neji as TenTen moves to check up on Hinata. Neji glares into his eyes and he returns the glare with one of his own. "What the hell were you doing?" He asks in a tone of controlled fury, voicing everyone's thoughts. They all wait for Neji's answer.

To Readers:

I would like to thank DeathEmperorDaeron for helping with Liger Eternity's colour scheme and for the shoulder guns. A huge thanks goes to all of you who have been reading this since the beginning as well as for my regular reviewers, for it's always nice to read how much you guys like my story and what you think is going to happen as well. I also hope you likes the part where Hinata's piloting the Rev Raptor hyperthermophile, that was done especially for you. I believe this story is coming to a close, so enjoy.

To be continued …


	26. Chapter 26

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 26

They all waited for Neji's answer, for Lee had allowed the teen with the frosty demeanour to stand. Neji gives Hinata a heated look, but the younger Hyuuga didn't see this as TenTen holds Hinata in a tight hug. His eyes narrow as the teen hasn't answered to his question. Kiba and Shino were on their guard as Kiba's dog moves to be by Hinata and TenTen.

"What were you going to do to Hinata, Hyuuga. What were you going to do to **our** team mate?" Kiba growls out in a threatening tone. Bugs begin to gather above Shino, which means that Shino also is quite angry about what Neji had been about to do to their female team mate.

A flash of uncertainty flickers on Neji's face as the teen finds no friendly faces among them. If he hadn't known what to look for, he would have missed that look. Lee glances over at Hinata with his eyes, keeping his face calm. He's privately glad that Lee hasn't gone sprouting his usual nonsense that the green wearing teen picked up from their instructor. Out of the corner of his eye he can tell that Shikamaru, one of Naruto's friends before they graduated from the academy and Naruto left, had also formed a familiar seal.

He didn't know about Ino or Sakura, but everyone was ready to deal with the cousin of Hinata, whether the young woman wanted them to or not. Finally Neji grunts out, "Why not ask **her**." They blink and he glances at Hinata. He snorts and replies, "Maybe it's because we want to hear it from **you**." He can tell the many of them nod their agreement at what he said.

Once more that look of uncertainty flickers on the older teen's face, but it seems that Neji doesn't want to answer out of pride. After a good ten mintues, he growls out, "Ino, go get the rope. Shikamaru, do you mind getting Neji in the correct position? Since you don't wish to answer our questions, Neji, we'll just tie you up." Ino and Sakura hurry off to get the rope, even though he had only asked Ino to do it.

Neji didn't try to get away, for that would only make it official that Neji could be call a traitor. As soon as the girls come back, Shikamaru's shadow bind captures Neji's shadow. Soon they were heading back to the campsite with Neji in toe. They didn't cover Neji's mouth, mostly for they did want the guy to talk, not to shut him up. He didn't ask where TenTen took Hinata or wonder why Ino and Sakura didn't go help the elder teen either, knowing full well that the pair wouldn't know how to comfort the shy and quiet teen.

He sets about the task of gathering Neji's things. They'll be going through them to see any clues as to what Neji was going to do. He wonders what could have been if someone had been the glue to make this group work, but then, who would be skilled enough to sort out all of their differences? He shakes his head and returns to the task at hand, despite the glares coming from the owner of the bags.

)-(Naruto)-(

He leans on the rock face as he watches Tobi mediate. He wonders if Tobi was doing this to make himself look more impressive as dawn's light appears over the horizon. He wouldn't put it pass the dramatic comical man, for Tobi does seem to know just how to make a lasting impression. He notices that Shadow too is watching Tobi as well.

Neither of them was disappointed as dawn approached once more. At first it was just a bit of orange light appearing among the few clouds and on the one eyed man. Red light along with yellow soon plays around Tobi, highlighting his pale skin and raven black hair. Tobi's profile is illuminated, with the wind toying with the older nin's medium length hair. The brown shirt with green vest was slightly in the light, but like the part of the face facing Shadow and him, still in shadows.

At that moment, he's kind of reminded of Sasuke and a bit about Sasuke's elder brother. He could see some kind of resemblance between Tobi, Sasuke, and what's his name, Sasuke's older brother and the guy that killed off most of his clan. He frowns slightly, doubting the thought that entered his mind. He shakes himself out of it, snorting at the thought that the man he's been traveling with could be blood relative to Sasuke.

'_And if he is, why hadn't what's his name kill him when Sasuke's brother had the chance? If that guy wanted only Sasuke and himself to be the remaining members of their clan, why let Tobi live?'_ He assured himself as he watches as the yellow light covers all, driving the orange and red away. Soon the shadows that covering Tobi's side that faces them grown small now that the sun has successfully chased the remnants of night away.

It took about fifteen minutes before Tobi finishes his mediating. He rolls his eyes as Tobi gets up gracefully, moving about much with as much grace as a cat. He watches as Tobi holds his spiral mask in his hands before him. He frowns slightly, sensing something off this morning, like Tobi was about to alter something significant this morning. He's not sure if he would welcome such a change as he watches Tobi warily.

Something altered in Tobi's demeanour and with a swift movement; Tobi breaks his mask in half and tosses them into the air. Then with two quick hand seals, Tobi burns what remains of his mask. His jaw drops, totally shocked that the man would think of destroying his mask, let alone going as far as actually going through with that course of action.

"I don't think you'd like the taste of fly, so close your mouth." Shadow growls softly at him. He blinks and closes his mouth, smiling sheepishly at his best friend. "Sorry, it's just… I didn't expect him to do that!" He states in a low tone. "Odd indeed." Shadow agrees as they watch Tobi eyeing them from where he's standing. He's kind of glad that there's about fifty feet between them or he might just ask bluntly why Tobi just torched his own mask.

He begins to get the feeling that Tobi wasn't quiet done yet and he gets this odd weight pressing down in his gut. He bites his lower lip nervously; he looks away from Tobi, looking intently at some bush holding onto the edge of some rocks. Shadow gets up and he follows suit, trying not to look towards or at Tobi as he climbs over some of the cliff, towards the location of the cave that has been housing them for the last few days.

He glances towards the sun that's slowly climbing in the sky. His balance was tested as some of the path rumbles and parts of the edged cliffs broke off and fell off. He stiffens and glances over at Tobi, they shared a glance and they both swallowed as Shadow roars into the morning. "**It comes!**" Shadow's roars become a sentence inside of his head. His puzzled as to what that means and blinks as chakra flashes like lightning over Shadow's body. He wonders just what's coming that would make Shadow so upset.

He shrugs as Tobi gives him a questioning look. Shadow's aura hasn't faded one bit once Tobi approached them. "He says that **It** comes, I don't know what he's talking about though." He tells the twenty something year old. "Any clue as to what this **It** he's talking about?" Tobi asks. He looks thoughtful and as he frowns as a few thoughts entered his mind, Shadow answers, "Deathsaurer."

He pales at that name. "But you guys destroyed it!" He says, totally stunned about hearing that name, for he does remember those stories that his partner told him. "Destroyed what?" Tobi asks in alarm. "Deathsaurer." He informs the man. "This it?" Tobi asks in a relief tone. "It's not just something to be relieved about; it destroyed a civilization on Zi. Then someone else tried to recreate it again, twice. It's huge and doesn't have any exploitable weakness other then its core. It's can't be controlled, for it controls others. It's a machine totally geared to destruction." He says to Tobi in a matter of fact tone.

"Oh." Tobi says, clearly unsure on how to react. "But it can be destroyed, though?" Tobi says softly. "It can be." Shadow snarls out. "It will be." Shadow roars as flocks of birds fly overhead. He looks to where the Rogue Liger is and says, "It's time is running out." Shadow growls in agreement and Tobi just looks lost as he glances at the pair of them. "I still don't get it." Tobi admits out loud.

)-(Sasuke)-(

He looks over at Kakashi, they all wonder just what it was that caused the locate wildlife flee southward. They all felt that earthquake, but hadn't been too bothered by it. Now though, they had just been in a middle of some kind of stampede of various life forms, he was more then a little unnerved watching wolves, deer, and _bears_ flee as one pass them, almost running them over.

Most of the students were looking at their instructors, expecting answers. It seems that none of the older ninja know what's going on either. Not that he was surprise, oddly, his thoughts drift onto Ambient. _'Why do I feel like that Organoid is in the middle of this?'_ He wonders to himself as he looks northward, the direction which the wildlife seems to be fleeing from.

He frowns slightly as he wonders whether Naruto was close to the disturbance. A picture of the blond lying on the ground, totally exhausted flickers in his mind's eye, he shifts uncomfortably as feelings flowed. Guilt was one of the major ones, for he never really forgave himself for not trying to get to know the blond better when he was on the team. _'If I had swallowed my pride and continued to push, he might not have been in that fire. If I had just followed him… So many ifs. I'm not going to stand around wondering any more! I'm going to get to the bottom of this and I know that Naruto will as well. I'm not going to do nothing as Naruto faces this foe!'_ Were his thoughts as he gaze northward, his right hand balled into a fist.

"I'm going to check it out." He says in a steely tone, not caring how many of the group gasp and begin to try and point out reason why it's none of their business. He ignores the others as he moves towards his Zoid. He did notice that none of the jonin seem to be objecting, which means that they'll let him.

He eases into the cockpit and just as he's about to make the Zoid move, Kakashi says, "I'll come to keep an eye on you." Then oddly enough, Hinata says in a firm tone, "I'll come too." Then the moment disappears as she adds, with her usual stutter, "If it's ok with either of you." "You're welcome to join us." Kakashi says lazily.

Kakashi enters into a cockpit of a stolen Zoid called Berserk Fury as Hinata enters into the Rev Raptor's cockpit. They are soon off with him leading the way at a fast trot. He just hopes that whatever awaits them, that they will be able to handle it, one way or another.

)-(Shadow)-(

He tries and fails to try and remember what happened to the original Deathsaurer, for he knows for certain fact that the two Van had faced off with had been destroyed. He had a sinking feeling that they were about to fight the one that the ancient Zoidains created and that thought didn't comfort him one bit.

He did know that the Zoidains created a pair of scorpion Zoids to stop the evil monstrosity that was… is the Deathsaurer. It was kind of hard to remember that the Death Stinger was used to stop the Deathsaurer, for the simple fact that its core had help create the second Deathsaurer that he had been with Raven. He makes his version of a sigh as he paces the Rogue Liger.

'_So it comes down to this, can Rogue Liger be able to get to the core of Deathsaurer or will we need Liger Eternity to battle it? I don't like that prospect of forming Liger Eternity one bit. That fox is as much a danger as the Zoid we're going to be battling. I wouldn't put it pass the beast to try and take over during the fight with Deathsaurer.'_ He thinks to himself. _'Plus, it'll only be just be Rogue Liger battling with the evil beast of destruction. I don't like our odds of survival one bit. If the Deathsaurer doesn't get us, the fox demon will.'_ He does his equivalent of a snort.

He decides it's useless to think such things, for in the end they do have to fight the gigantic Deathsaurer. They had the better chance of destroying it then anybody else alive on this world. For he does know where the Deathsaurer's weak points are and they do have a powerful Zoid as well. He doesn't doubt that Rogue Liger is stronger then Blade Liger, for unlike the Blade Liger, he couldn't always stay bonded with Rogue Liger for a large amount of time.

It's odd that instead of just pushing the time by a few more seconds each time he bonds with first Liger Zero and then with that's Zoid evolved form Rogue Liger, he tended to increase that time by a minute instead of little or no improvement. He wonders if it might not be from the infusions of chakra that Naruto often feeds him with. He has run many diagnostics to see just how the chakra is affecting him, but according to all of his scans, he's in tip top condition.

His musing are cut short as his scanners reveal that three Zoids were heading north from the southeast of their position. They were moving at a run and they will most likely be noticing them within a few seconds. He wonders just what kind of fight they're in for as they begin to alter their direction, heading their way.

Naruto increases the speed at which they had been traveling at, which had been a fast walk for they weren't in any real hurry to confront the Deathsaurer. He didn't blame Naruto for setting such a slow pace, oddly he's kind of proud that the blond wasn't as foolhardy as Van was about Naruto's age. But then, Naruto had been forced to grow up rather quickly, even though the blond had retained some of his naivety when he first met the beat up six year old blond child.

He easily keeps pace with Rogue Liger as they try to put more distance between that group of three that's coming towards them. The scenery seems to fly pass as they continued to race northward with those three Zoids following behind. He noticed that the group of three seem to be able to match the pace, but they can't seem to gain any real ground, which was what they wanted, even though it would be better if they were actually pulling away from the group behind them.

He was also awarethat it wasn't the Rogue Liger that the group was using to locate them, but him. He's about to venture off when Naruto says over the loud speakers, "I need you with me, Shadow. And whoever is behind us will definitely be busy dealing with the Deathsaurer to try and take us out. In a way, this could be a good thing for it wouldn't just be a one on one battle, but a four on one." He nods showing he understood what Naruto is saying.

He relaxes and focuses on his scanners in hopes of locating the Deathsaurer ahead so they don't walk into an ambush. He wouldn't put it pass the combine might of Ambient and the Deathsaurer. He just hopes that the three following behind them were good enough to be able to stand up to the Deathsaurer for more then a minute.

)-(Sasuke)-(

They located a Zoid, they have been following the Zoid but not gaining the ground they had when they first spotted the lone Zoid. He figures that it's Naruto's Liger, so he hopes that it means that the blond is alright. He also didn't question why the blond was running from them, guessing that Naruto thinks that they were either from Sound or Stone.

He just hopes that where ever Naruto was leading them, that it'll be worth their while. "Maybe we should over take this guy." Kakashi suggests and before he could reply, some kind of light weapon appears to their far left, vanishing within a minute. He stares at the path of destruction that's left behind from that beam of light. "What caused that?" Hinata asks softly, seemly forgetting that they could hear her over the com link between their Zoids.

As one they all move over towards this cliff's edge and they all gasp at the gigantic red Zoid that's shotting of that light weapon willy nilly. "That's Deathsaurer. Hope you're ready to fight for you're very lives, for thing is evil incarnate. It won't be satisfied until all living things are dead." Naruto says over the com link. "Naruto!" Kakashi and Hinata say in surprise.

The Liger drops down in front of them and they all gasp yet again, for according to their map, the Zoid they had been following was east of them. "Nice to see you too Kakashi, Hinata. But I think we should do something before it realises we're sitting ducks up here." Naruto says dryly. The Zoid that they had been tracking suddenly seems to heading their way at high speeds. Soon Shadow appears and as they watch, the black Organoid fuses with the Liger that Naruto's piloting. Then they watch as the Zoid's blades come down and it leaps off the cliff they were resting on and begins to engage the gigantic Zoid that Naruto claims is Deathsaurer. He just feels kind of numb, but he soon follows Naruto's lead, hoping that the blond knows what he's doing.

To Readers:

This is the **ancient** Deathsaurer that's come through the gate, not either of the ones that Van destroyed. I also can't seem to find any reference to it being destroyed, for if there were any survivors, they would have died of old age before getting a chance to tell the first human or hibernating Zoidian, I also doubt that any of their writings would have remained completed to tell how the Deathsaurer was defeated and who'd done it. So lets just say that in this universe, that ancient Zoid found its way through that gate with Ambient's help. So I hope I don't need to repeat myself again, but remember, _this_ Deathsaurer is the one the Zoidians built. The end is coming soon, I promise!

To be continued …


	27. Chapter 27

The Dragon Dilemma

I don't own Naruto and Zoids

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"Talking"

'_Thoughts'_

/-- Scene change

)-()-( Different point of view

?-? Flash back

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Chapter 27

He nods as he watches from his hiding spot, watching as the four Zoids battle the gigantic Deathsaurer. He just prays that Naruto and Shadow will be enough to defeat the violent Zoid without resorting to transforming into Liger Eternity. He shivers slightly, remembering how long the collective minds had battled that demonic fox spirit that resides within Naruto since the day of his birth.

He sighs and keeps a wary eye on the battling below; he would have to move often just to make sure he doesn't want to end up a blood stain on these rocks. He also had time to think about what he's going to talk with Kakashi about once they survive. _'If anyone can pull off a miracle, it would be Naruto.'_ He tells himself as he seeks out the Rogue Liger. Knowing that the survival of this world is resting on the shoulders of the thirteen year old, blond demon container piloting the Rogue Liger and on the blonds' friend and partner, Shadow the black Organoid.

)-(Naruto)-(

They found it easier to be in close quarters of the Deathsaurer for the gigantic Zoid seems to have trouble battling without using its Charge Particle Cannon. They easily dodged the slow moving limbs as they attempt to climb up the back to destroy the fan on the back of the Zoid. They also found it hard to keep the Deathsaurer from trying to travel towards the closest village, which Kakashi says is southwest of where they had first spotted the gigantic Zoid. They were now about thousand kilometres from it and he could only hope that Tobi went on ahead to give that village warning about what's heading towards them.

He sighs and once more tries to climb up the back of the gigantic Zoid. He's just not quick enough to get all the way up on a single run and it's hard to get the Rogue Liger to use its claws to continue to climb up the back. The Rogue Liger roars as they are forced to leap off the back and onto the ground. "I might have better luck. This Zoid can fly quiet well." Kakashi says casually. "Gee, you could have offered sooner you know." He growls at his ex teacher. "I agree with him on this one." Sasuke adds and the man with cloth mask over the lower part of his face just shrugs, not at all calming either of them down. He sends a glare at the man before turning off the vid link.

He sighs and does a simple hand seal. Chakra moves around him and then moves away from him and the Rogue Liger. Three water clones of the Rogue Liger appear. He surveys his work and nods in satisfaction as he looks at them on the screen. Though it tired him slightly creating them, they should be enough to help distract the gigantic Zoid enough for it to forget about the village a bit a way from them.

The clones move without him issuing any orders, he knows that the other three with him were more then a little stunned by the fact that he just used a jutsu to create water clones of not just himself, but of the Zoid he's piloting, though he doubts that the jutsu was able to copy Shadow, which in the end was fine by him as he evades one of the large feet of the monstrous Zoid.

Soon the clones were in position and he says over the com link, "Sasuke cover Kakashi. Hinata stay position yourself so that you can race up the back if Kakashi gets thrown. We'll keep it distracted and hopefully still for either of you to get to that fan." "It's nice to know how much faith you have in your old teacher." Kakashi says mockingly. "I just want our bases covered. We do weaken this thing if we take out that fan. That should give us time to figure out how to get to the Zoid Core." He informs the man who had once been his jonin instructor once upon a time.

Soon the others got themselves organized and he with his clones began to dance out of reach of the Deathsaurer's feet and tail, and into mid range where the cannon that the Zoid uses can be used. It was a tricky tactic but oddly enough, it worked. They did it in a wave formation, with them darting in a weaving pattern as they dodged the beams of light coming from the gigantic Zoid's mouth.

He rolled his eyes as he notices that Kakashi over shot his mark; he fired a few shots from the Shock Cannon in order to keep the destructive Zoid's attention away from the others. He doesn't know why the Deathsaurer seemed so uninterested in what the others were doing, it was almost as if it knew who the true threat was…

"Ambient did see what happened to those Sound nins. He's most likely already bonded with the Deathsaurer." Shadow growls out from deep within Rogue Liger. He closes his eyes for a second and nods. "You're most likely right, Shadow. I do believe that they're over confident about our chances of destroying that fan." He says as he does a tricky manoeuvre as one of his clones speeds up to evade a beam of light from the gigantic Zoid.

Just as a beam of light crosses his path, it dissipated and he can hear Sasuke shout out, "Hinata!" He pores chakra into Rogue Liger through his connection with Shadow. One minute, he's racing sideways around the front of the Deathsaurer and then charging the belly of the gigantic Zoid with his Zoid glowing blue.

All four blades are active and he cries out something unintelligent as Rogue Liger leaps into the air, their target is the Zoid core in the lower half of the body. Though they didn't get it as they pass right through the body, they did manage to inflict a great deal of damage. They use a huge over turned stone face that looked strong enough for him to use as a spring board.

Once more they're flying through the air and he opens himself to both Shadow and to the Zoid core. The fox's chakra surges forth, altering the Rogue Liger into Liger Eternity. It was easier to hold the fox's mind off since neither Shadow or him had been enraged over the thought of not just Tobi being in danger, but his exteam mate. Once more they didn't hit the core of the Deathsaurer, but it didn't matter as the red chakra began to make the metal of the Deathsaurer rot.

As they land on the ground before the Deathsaurer, they roared out their trumpet and then turned to watch as the red raptor Zoid pull what remains out of the fan. They notice that the two others were helping her out and they turn northwards. With a final look at the group, they run towards the gate, knowing that Tobi would understand.

Though they continued to have an internal conflict between the fox and their collective mind, it didn't stop them from journeying to the gate that would take them from this world, and perhaps they will take the other Zoids with them as they go. They doubt that these humans needed any more weapons in which to help them kill each other. Though the technology that they had been able to get from studying the Zoids will most likely remain behind, even with the Zoids' absent, giving these humans better tools to create other robotic life forms if they so choose.

)-(Sasuke)-(

For reasons he couldn't seem to understand, he had been more then a little concerned when Hinata's Zoid ended up stopping the fan. It felt like a part of him had been about to burst open and bleed all over the place as the fan almost looked like it would continue to spin, despite Hinata's sacrifice. Then the fan blades jammed on the mid section of the Rev Raptor and he had been more then a little stunned watching a growling blue Liger explode from the back of the Deathsaurer.

He also had to wonder just how it was that one moment it was the Rogue Liger leaping towards the back of the Deathsaurer and then in a flash of reddish light, it was Liger Eternity not just ramming the gigantic Zoid, but it was like a hot knife cutting through butter. He was more then a little unnerved at the roar that came out of the odd Liger.

He gazes northward, to where the Liger Eternity headed towards. He did wonder just had to hope that Naruto and Shadow were strong enough to keep the fox at bay as they travel towards the gate that resides within this part of Earth Country. He turns to look down at the girl that's within his arms. He notices that a man was talking with Kakashi, the man kind of looked familiar. He sighs and made comforting noises to help Hinata calm down from her near death experience.

He didn't even want to know what Liger Eternity did as it was passing through the Deathsaurer, but he could easily see the results as the very metal that the Zoid was made out of was decaying before their very eyes. There wasn't any stench coming from it either, which he decides is fortunate considering how huge the Deathsaurer is.

He just sighs, wondering if he just saw the last of his blond exteam mate. He began to rock slightly in hopes that it combined with the sounds he's making it'll be enough to keep Hinata from crying harder then she already is. Hinata's sobs become softer and the space between them increased which means that despite the fact he's never done this comfort thing before, he's been able to calm the timid teen down without ever having any real experience with girls.

A small smile makes its way onto his face, he sighs as he rubs Hinata's shoulders for a few seconds before he reddens slightly as he realises just how close they were. Hinata seems to notice this within a few seconds after he had and they kind of took a step back from each other, both not sure just what passed between them, only that something had happened and they both kind of hope that whatever it was, that it might not be the last time it happens.

"Who's that with Kakashi?" Hinata asks him with her usual stutter. "I think it might be Tobi. I'm not sure, but it very well could be. He must of lost his mask or something." He replies as he looks at the pair. He frowns, wondering just what could the pair be talking about and why the black haired man didn't take off after Liger Eternity.

He watches as Kakashi moves and allows him to get a better look at the unmasked nin that traveled with Naruto. He stiffens as he stares at the man, he couldn't mistake which clan Tobi most likely descended from. He did notice that Tobi was missing an eye, but it didn't seem to slow the man down. He frowns as he tries to wrap his mind around that he might not be the last of his clan. He found it really hard not to feel relieved. If the man truly was a full blooded Uchiha, then the burden of reviving the clan wasn't on his shoulders alone.

He watches as Tobi looks at him and then over at Hinata. The man then frowns at Kakashi, he decides that Kakashi must have said something. Kakashi motions for Tobi to follow and the man glances once more in his direction before following his teacher. "I wonder what's up between them?" He muses out loud as the pair seems to vanish out of sight. He glances at Hinata at the same time Hinata glances at him. They both turn quickly away, light blushes colouring their faces.

/----

He stands before the stone that lists the names of the fallen. He sighs as he finds Tobi's original name craved onto the stone face. He's come to accept the fact that he's going to be the one to revive his clan within Hidden Leaf. He doesn't blame the older Uchiha's decision not to return to Hidden Leaf; it seems that Tobi had grown to resent the village of his birth for what they had done to Naruto.

It's been about four years since anyone seen Liger Eternity. It seems that Naruto did leave this world for another with Shadow and his Zoid, Rogue Liger. He still hopes that where ever he is that Naruto is ok. He sighs and before looking away.

As he walks away from the stone, he thinks about how the Zoids began vanishing for three months after Naruto had traveled through the gate. By the fourth month, not even the ruin Zoids remained and Tobi had been right in his prediction of what would happen with the gate being closed. Even now, he misses the Shadow Fox and hopes that whoever's piloting it now will treat it right.

He's now a jonin, just got promoted last month and he smirks as he remembers what he had gone through to achieve his new rank. His hand moves into the pocket holding the ring he picked out, his been keeping it in his vest since he bought it last week. He hadn't been able to speak with Hinata yet, for she was away on a mission when he finally gathered up the courage to not only buy it, but to ask the question that goes with it.

He pauses and looks up into the sky, noticing a hawk circling in the sky, he blinks as another seems to join the other hawk. The pair of hawks move about in aerial displays, his mood lifts up at the display. He looks down to find Hinata walking towards him on the path before him. He smiles at the sight before him. He clenches the ring within his vest's pocket, his heart beating quickly at the sight of his future wife.

Though this world might have lost the large metal animals called Zoids, they still have the technology they got from studying them. New weapons have been created and were currently being imploded through these lands. Yet despite this, ninjas were still hired, paid, and sometimes double crossed by those that employed them. While new tools now exist, things just seem to stay the same. People are born, grow old, and die in unending cycles like the seasons.

His heart skips a beat at as Hinata smiles at him, his face heats up and he shifts nervously as Hinata continues to walk towards him. "You doing anything special for supper tonight?" He asks the beautiful young woman that Hinata grew into. They link hands and weave their fingers together as they walk back towards the village.

)-(Shadow)-(

'_Four years. It feels longer some how.'_ He muses as he watches Taichi, Naruto's choice of what he wanted to be called once they were on Zi, read a history book. The book was about the lives of Van and Fiona. It was one that his partner usually reads when nothing important is going on.

They were currently working with Team Blue Light on the upcoming tournament, the money was good and they received free room and board. The leader is a fiery tempered woman by the name of Kikue "Wild Mane" Mooncall. He's amused to watch as Wild Mane tries to flirt with his partner Taichi "Maelstrom" Nineblades, also called Tai.

Kikue has competition in the form of her fellow team mate and mechanic Chisako Cloud. They both often tried to get Tai all to themselves, but they usually interfere with each other's plans, which kind of lead his partner to think that the pair might be shy about showing their affections for each other in front of everyone. He's so amused by this, which is why he never tried to straighten his partner out on what's really going on between the two girls. There were three others that were also part of this team as well. The first is Kikue's brother, Hayao Mooncall, the brilliant planner and teenage tactician Minato Stone, and finally the mysterious Wakaru Clearsight.

They've known this team for about two years now and they have only been on this team for about a year now. They both were growing to like the people that made up Team Blue Light. He could tell that Tai was looking for a place to settle down and he didn't mind if they take a more permanent position with this team.

He turns and notices that the pair of young ladies were at it once more. He chuckles inwardly as they walk towards where Tai and he were resting. They were shooting glares at each other as they tried to ask Tai to go to the festival with them. He wonders when the pair will find out that Tai already has a girl friend.

He sighs mentally and takes a glance towards the 'man' by the Shadow Fox. Wakaru's real name is Cheza Youthwind, daughter of a governor. Cheza was running away from an arranged marriage when they first met, roughly two months after they've arrived on Zi. They helped Cheza get the right papers and hadn't met up again until they faced Team Blue Light in a Zoid battle about a year ago.

Tai and Cheza were older and they both reconnected with ease. He wasn't expecting a wedding anytime soon though. Unlike the elemental countries where they once lived, there wasn't any hurry to marry at such a young age on Zi. Most people marry in their twenties, which means that either Cheza or Tai were under any pressure to get engaged or even married. They could have a long courtship before they felt like marrying each other.

'Wakura' smirks at the antics of the two young women who were trying to win 'his' boyfriend. 'Wakura' winks in his direction and nods slightly in 'his' direction. 'Wakura' continues to polish a pistol that 'he' carries around for protection. His happy that they have found a place where their collective pasts didn't come back to haunt them, he also looks forward to the adventures that were to come and knows that Tai, Rogue Liger, and him would always be together for as long as they live.

To Readers:

My thanks to everyone who's been with me since the beginning and hope that you find this ending to be to your liking. I've enjoyed writing this story, despite that during this story I discovered how much fun World of WarCraft is. I also hope that you all enjoyed reading this and I really enjoyed reading your guys' comments as I posted this on So ends The Dragon Dilemma.


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